


Scarecrows aren't supposed to be Heroes

by ERZASCARLET178



Category: Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Crossover, Dadzawa, Dimension Travel, Gen, I am student with bad grammar, Kakashi and Kaminari are the same person, Orphan Kaminari, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Rebirth, Reincarnation, Screw cannon, So kakashi can Chidori people, idk - Freeform, maybee, sorry in advance, wtf is this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2019-10-03 23:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 70,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17293103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ERZASCARLET178/pseuds/ERZASCARLET178
Summary: Kakashi was content with his life, content with his death.Until, of course, he wasn't dead.Kakashi, now known as Kaminari, must survive a world full of heroes.And naturally, things don't go quite to plan.This has been cross-posted on FFN as karma-is-a-turtle.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Treatise with Stalemates](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084898) by [ewfte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewfte/pseuds/ewfte). 



> I'm an amateur. Pls forgive me. Idk why ur reading this.

Hatake Kakashi was many things. A friend, an enemy, a leader, a murderer. He died with no real expectations. He had done some good things- and a lot of bad things, but Kakashi was...content with how his life ended.

Kaminari Denki was a child, an orphan, a young boy who wanted nothing more than to be remembered. In the end, his death was lost within the numbers. The numbers that people mourned, people pitied, but people forgot.

One was an adult, the other was a child. One was remembered, the other was forgotten. One died happy, the other did not.

Two different people, from two different worlds.

Who became the same person.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's me again.
> 
> Damn ur still here
> 
> EDIT1: I edited this again.

_**A Quirk is a special, superhuman ability an individual can possess. Quirks are generally unique to their user and are classified in multiple categories** _

Darkness...that was his first memory.

" _OBITO!"_

" _Useless child."_

" _Friend Killer Kakashi."_

" _He'll never be a hero."_

" _You..._ _ **killed**_   _her."_

" _Pathetic."_

Confusion came next, as two minds meshed together. The maturity of an adult, the playfulness of a child, the experience of a Shinobi, the naivety of a civilian.

_**I...who...what...am...I?** _

Aizawa Shouta was a hero, and in his career had seen many different things.

A scruffy looking kid, thirteen or fourteen perhaps, banging his head on a wall in a shady looking street at two in the morning, was not one of them.

Shouta walked up behind the kid, arm outstretched as he asked, "Oi...kid what are you doing?"

A ragged face turned to him. Limpy blond bangs were glued to the corners of dull gold eyes, dirty blood dribbled down his face, clotting around it. The boy's hair dropped down in long spikes, frizzy and unwashed, implying days of no care. He wore a dirty white t-shirt that flashed his stomach at every motion, its sleeves frayed into singlets and ripped at collar. His pants were no better, flaunting bits of skin and dirt at every shift. A pretty sight, he was not.

The boy shook his head, hands shaking as he did, as they moved to cover his face as he did. "I-I...uh...don't know?" The boy stuttered.

Shouta raised an eyebrow, pulling back his outstretched hand when the boy made no notion to grab it. "You don't know?" He asked in disbelief. If that didn't ring alarm bells in his head then he didn't know what did. Shouta sighed."Look, kid, what's your name, I'll take you home."

The boy fumbled slightly, voice muffled by his hands. "Hata-Kaminari. Kaminari Denki."

Shouta ignored the slip-up and turned around, gesturing for the kid to follow. "Where do you live?"

"..."

"Kid?"

Shouta turned around. The boy was gone.

* * *

The next time Shouta saw the kid, he was almost unrecognizable. Not in terms of looks - though the mask had thrown him off a bit. It was his demeanor. The boy no longer held that foggy, lost, look in his eyes. He held himself with confidence, as if the fear that had gripped him before hadn't existed in the first place.

Shouta glared at the boy, groaning as he did, "brat," he greeted, hand already coming to rest on his temple.

The boy continued to lay on the rooftop, lazily flickering one eye open. "Ah," he said, yawning, "it's you."

"Yes," Shouta grumbled, "it's me, and I did not appreciate the stunt you pulled."

The golden-haired boy gave him a closed eye smile. "What stunt?"

Shouta exhaled irritably. "The one where you ran out on me."

Kaminari hummed contemplatively. "Really."

"Yes."

"I don't remember that happening."

"Of course you don't." Shouta sighed. "Look, kid, it's three in the morning, you should be in bed, not napping on rooftops."

"Mhmm."

"Kid, just go home."

"Maybe."

"Where do you even-"

Shouta blinked. The kid was gone.

* * *

"Ah, it's you."

Shouta exhaled in irritation. He had found the boy lounging on a rooftop again - at 3 AM no less. "Brat."

"Mhmm." The boy didn't even bother gracing him with a glance.

"What did-" Shouta spotted an orange book in the boy's grasp. ' _Wasn't Midnight talking about that series?'_  He remembered, _'something about it being really good…'_.

"...porn?"

The boy's gaze flickered towards him, eyes folding into crescents as they did.. "Maybe," he said ambiguously, turning a page in his... _book_

"How did you eve-" Shouta cut himself off, just shaking his head instead. "Never mind. What are you doing out here? Again."

The boy smiled at him. Well, Shouta thought he did. Hard to tell when someone was wearing a mask.

"I was about to go home," the boy 'explained', "but while I was getting ready to go I witnessed a black cat," this statement was accompanied with bizarre gestures, "running underneath a ladder," more weird movements, "it was such a distressing," a lot of emphasis on distressing, "sight that I couldn't bring myself to make the journey any further."

 _'He looks like a clown.'_  Was Shouta's conclusion. The whole thing, despite the odd delivery, was said with the utmost seriousness. If Shouta were a lesser man he would have gaped.

"...that's just a superstition," Shouta grumbled, 'a very old one at that.'

The boy huffed. "You shouldn't be critiquing my beliefs you know, just look on page 54, clause 8 of A Hero's Regulation of Quirks and Beliefs, "A hero should always-"

"Ok, Ok, fine." Shouta held out his hands in mock surrender. "But I still think you should go home."

"..." The boy smiled at him, tucking his book away, and leapt of the rooftop.

Shouta ran towards the edge, only to find the boy smiling at him from a rooftop nearby. He disappeared.

_'That brat.'_

* * *

Meeting Kaminari became a regular occurrence for Shouta. The kid was definitely smart, no matter how much he played it off (no, not even the many porn books Shouta found the boy reading could throw him off this conclusion). The kid was strong as well, judging by his swift manoeuvring from rooftop to rooftop.

Kaminari was definitely an entertaining, if not frustrating, person.

" _Hey kid, why don't you ever go home?"_

_The boy sighed, staring up at the sky. "I got lost."_

" _Lost?" Shouta asked._

" _On the road of life."_

" _..."_

Shouta had given up after that. Kaminari Denki was an interesting child.

* * *

Shouta sighed as he walked into the staffroom.

Hizashi raised his eyebrows at him, looking up from the cake he had been eating."You've been doing that a lot lately?" There was a questioning tone to his voice.

Shouta rolled his eyes, eyeing the sweet delicacy with disgust. "I met this kid."

Hizashi paused, spoon freezing at the cusp of the icing. "Oh?"

Shouta sighed, plonking himself on the chair opposite Hizashi. "He's the brattiest brat I've ever seen."

"...Is that fondness in your voice I hear?"

Shouta ignored him. "I keep finding him during my late night patrols, the kid never goes home."

Hizashi hummed contemplatively, spoon finally digging into sponge-like sweetness.. "Maybe he doesn't have a home?"

Shouta had considered that possibility, but the boy seemed too...well put together, to be homeless. But the kid was smart, he wouldn't be surprised if...

Shouta looked thoughtfully at Hizashi. "Maybe."

* * *

"Hey, kid."

Kakas-Denki glanced up to find an imposing figure towering over him. The silvery glint of a knife flashed ominously at him.

The man smirked. "What's a little brat like you doing out in the most dangerous part of town?"

Denki idly gazed around the street. It was empty. ' _Coward,'_ he thought, but smiled at the man. "Oh, you know, just the usual. Stealing old ladies purses, harassing strangers, threatening little kids. That shit."

The man narrowed his eyes, holding the knife more menacingly towards Denki's neck. "Are you mocking me, brat?"

Denki gave him a closed eye smile. "Yes, yes I am."

The man growled. "Why you-"

Before he could move any further Denki knocked the knife out of his hands and wrapped his legs around the man's waist, twisting himself behind him. He trapped the man's neck in his arms and started squeezing.

The man grabbed his neck in a desperate attempt to knock Denki off, cursing wildly and pulling at his arms. Denki only laughed and pressed one his hands on the edge of the man's chin. "Now, now, let's not struggle, we wouldn't want to  _accidentally_ snap your neck now would we?" He twisted the man's neck roughly.

"N-No." The man stopped floundering and stiffly returned his hands to his sides.

Denki smirked. "Perfect, now I have a few requests for you before I let you go, is that alright?"

"F-F-Fine."

The man was turning blue.

" _Great_ ," Denki smiled, "now first, I'll need you to  _get the hell out of here_  but I also want you to stop harassing anyone who comes your way. Ok?"

"O-Of course," the man stuttered.

Denki, still putting pressure on his chin, stopped squeezing and began to stroke the man's neck, almost lovingly, if it weren't for that manic giant in his eyes. "And if I find you didn't keep your promise, well, we might ourselves with a repeat of this situation,  _except next time your head won't be intact._ " Denki smiled. " _Got it."_

The man whimpered. "G-Got it."

Denki gave the man's neck a final squeeze before letting go. With one last fearful look, the man practically sprinted through the dingy dark street.

Denki cracked his neck in satisfaction. ' _Like a prey running away from a predator.'_

"What was that all about?"

Denki turned around. Standing in front of him was Eraserhead.

"Ah." It wasn't like he didn't like the hero, he was probably one of the most genuine heroes out there. And that genuinity was annoying.

Most heroes would turn a blind eye to someone like him, an orphan. He was, after all, just a victim of circumstance, part of the minority, as such, not as 'rewarding' as saving from the majority. In his case, this was a good thing, considering this world's laws regarding children were quite strict, if someone looked into his case more deeply he would most likely be shipped to a foster home.

Which was not something he wanted.

He could take care of himself fine and was mentally over the age of fifty. He had more freedom this way, He would be fine, they just didn't know it.

"Oi, kid, what did you do?"

Denki's attention refocused on the hero, taking note of the man's annoyed, but concerned expression. He shrugged. "Nothing just scared him off a bit."

Eraserhead raised his eyebrows. "Really, because that," he motioned to his neck, "didn't look like 'scaring him off.' "

Denki gave him an innocent eye-smile. "What can I say? I'm a pretty scary kid."

Eraserhead sighed. "You're hopeless."

"I'm surprised you had hope in the first place."

Eraserhead snorted. "Quit the sass, kid."

"Mhmm."

An awkward silence fell between them, before Eraserhead addressed the elephant in the room. "What are you doing in a place like this?" Denki shrugged but Eraserhead just continued. "Do you even have a place to stay? A kid like you shouldn't be in a place like this."

_Isn't the sky pretty?_

"-if you don't have a place to stay-"

_Almost like Konoha._

"-heroes are here for this-"

_I wonder what I should eat for dinner?_

"-plenty of options like foster care or-"

_I don't feel that hungry, maybe I should skip it?_

"Hey, kid, are you even listening to me?"

Denki hummed idly, before looking at him blankly. "No, not really."

Eraserhead seemed exasperated. "Kid, I'm just trying to-"

Denki smiled a closed-eye smile. "Well, it was nice seeing you again."

"Hey-WAIT!"

Denki gave him one last smirk underneath his mask before disappearing into the distance.

* * *

"Oi, Tsukauchi, I need to look through the records." Shouta was in the police department to meet a certain detective.

Tsukauchi raised his eyebrows at the underground hero, as he sorted through various files on his desk. "Oh, what's the sudden interest?"

Shouta grunted, coming to stand opposite the man. "I've come across a problematic child who likes to hold all his cards very close to his chest."

Tsukauchi hummed in interest, putting away his files and opening up his laptop. "What's his name?" he asked, "I'll search him up in the database."

"Kaminari Denki."

Tsukauchi typed briskly on his computer, a frown spreading across his face.

Shouta looked at him questioningly. "What's wrong?"

Tsukauchi glanced at Shouta, before flicking back to the screen, "there's nothing wrong with the boy himself," he said slowly, "he seems pretty normal, but…"

Shouta raised his eyebrows. "But…?"

Tsukauchi hesitated. "The information is outdated... vague...like someone rushed or covered up parts of his record."

Shouta frowned. "What do you mean?"

Tsukauchi pulled up a document on his computer, swiveling the computer around so Shouta could see. "Look at his medical records, the last recorded visit was when the boy was  _three."_  He pulled up another document. "And his  _Quirk,_ whoever registered it didn't even give the  _bare minimum_ information."

Shouta stared at Tsukauchi. "What's his Quirk?"

Tsukauchi turned the laptop towards him and rapped on the computer once more, before opening up another file. "It's called Electrification," he twisted the device around, "so probably something to do with electricity, there's no explanation registered."

Shouta hummed contemplatively, eyes scanning through the screen. "So no one bothered to get further information."

Tsukauchi sighed, pulling the laptop towards him again. "I guess they thought the name was self-explanatory."

Shouta rapped his fingers on the desk in front of him. "What about his parents?"

Tsukauchi frowned while typing on his keyboard. " _Officially,_ his guardians are Ryuta Kaminari and Sakura Hasegawa but there doesn't seem to be much on them either."

"So, in other words, he's a complete mystery."

Tsukauchi grimaced. "Well, I wouldn't say complete, but considering how little there is on him, he might as well be."

Shouta sighed. ' _Why do I get stuck with the most problematic ones?'_

* * *

Denki hummed as he idiled on a pile of rubble, nonchalantly flaring his Quirk. It was certainly strange, he reflected.

A world full of Quirks instead of Chakra.

A world where Shinobi were myths and Heroes were a reality.

A world that was far closer to peace them the Elemental Nations would possibly ever be.

Sure, the people here had their skirmishes. Petty fights, petty wars. But ultimately, the peace here was much more peaceful than the paranoid peace back home. Of course, Naruto had been looking into changing that. But there was only so much a man could do in one lifetime, one could run from death only for so long.

Even the famous  _CopyCat Ninja_ had fallen prey to its hands.

' _The Golden Age of Heroes, huh.'_ Denki wondered how long it would last. Every light had a shadow, it was only a matter of how long it would take for the shadow to catch up.

Distant shuffling and voices caught his attention.

"-quickly, get the girl."

Footsteps clambered towards where he was laying. Narrowing his eyes, Denki slipped underneath the pile of rubbish he had been resting on, observing the scene in front of him.

A young girl, covered in bandages and dressed in ragged, torn, clothing, cowering meekly in front of two men.

"Now, now, if you come quietly the boss won't punish you as bad," one of the goons coaxed.

The other goon laughed. "We don't want to rough you too much."

The girl whimpered, but slowly inched her way towards them.

Denki frowned. ' _I should probably do something,'_  he thought. Denki swiftly, but silently, removed himself from underneath the garbage pile and placed himself in front of the girl. Ignoring the surprised looks on the goons' face, he concentrated his Quirk into a similar, but much weaker, Chidori-like ball around one of his hands. Holding it out threateningly at the two goons, Denki gave them his most shit-eating eye-smirk ever.

"Well," he said, "I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I don't think the girl wants to go with you."

Despite their paling faces, one of the goons growled. "Mind your own business brat, this doesn't concern you."

With speed befitting of a Shinobi, Denki placed himself behind the two men, a hand gripping the collars of their shirts. "Too bad for you, I'm quite a nosy person." The electricity crackled louder and the mock-Chidori dispersed around his arms. Letting go of their shirts, he brought his hands almost agonizingly close to their skull.

"Leave."

"T-That girl is important, i-if our boss finds out he'll-"

"Good thing he won't." Denki clutched their scalps painfully, listening in morbid satisfaction as their heartbeat fluttered to an eventual stop.

He cancelled the electricity.

Denki turned to the girl, who was still trembling in what he guessed was fear. He internally cringed. Damn it, he wasn't good with kids. Especially little ones.

"Hey...girl, kid, whatever your name is, I'm not going to hurt you." Denki tried to raise his hands in the air in a harmless manner, scooting closer to the kid.

The girl only trembled harder.

Denki sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry I killed them but they were going to tell this boss guy and they were trying to take you anyway."

The girl started to sniffle.

He panicked. "Ah-wait, please don't cry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I-"

The girl ran up and hugged him.

"Ah..."

The girl was crying on his shirt.

" _T-Thank you, thank you, thankyou thankyou."_

Stiffly, Denki raised his hand and began to awkwardly pat her hair. "It's fine, everything will be fine now."

He hoped he could keep that promise.

* * *

"Sooo."

Denki glanced at the girl trailing behind him on the streets of Musutafu, she still kept a firm grip on his hand, as if scared he would leave her behind. Denki sighed. "What's your name?"

The girl seemed startled by the question, staring at him long and hard before answering.

"E-Eri."

' _No last name,'_ he noted.

Denki gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Nice to meet you Eri, my name is Denki, Kaminari Denki."

The gir-Eri muttered something under her breath.

He tilted his head, bending down slightly. "What was that, Eri?" He asked.

Eri flushed bright red. "N-Nii-san," she stuttered, hands gripping her dress nervously, "c-can I call you Nii-san?"

Denki blinked in surprise. "Nii-san? Huh, I guess you could call me that."

Eri giggled and Denki gave her a small smile, before letting it fade into a more serious expression. "What do you want to do now?"

Eri made a confused noise.

"I mean," he continued, "you could go to the authorities. They'd probably get you into foster care with some protection or they could-"

"I want to stay with Nii-san."

Denki looked at her in surprise. "You could...but I don't exactly live the most...glamorous lifestyle. And it'd probably be safer..."

Eri shook her head. "I want to live Nii-san."

Denki gave her a small smile before hesitantly ruffling her hair. "If you're sure."

Eri let out a small cheer.

_I'll protect you, Eri-chan._

* * *

"Whatcha doing, Nii-san?"

Eri had been watching her Nii-san punch things with his Quirk for three hours, and he hadn't slowed down one bit!

Nii-san paused to look at her, smiling as he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. "I'm training."

Eri tilted her head to the side. "What for?"

Nii-san hummed thoughtfully at the question. "To keep us safe, I guess?"

Eri narrowed her eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah?"

Eri looked at him thoughtfully before bumping her palm and fist together. "I got it! You should be a hero!"

Nii-san raised his eyebrows at her. "I'm not hero material."

Eri glared at him reproachfully. "You saved me, even though you didn't have too."

"That was different," he retorted, "I actually like you."

"You didn't even know me then," she accused.

"I killed those two men," he shot back, "what kind of hero does that?"

Eri puffed out her cheeks and pouted. "You did it to save me, so that still makes you a hero."

"Eri…" Nii-san exhaled exasperatedly.

"What?" She puckered her lips, "you're smart and strong and have a powerful Quirk!"

Nii-san sighed. "Strength means nothing if you don't have the heart."

"Which you have!"

"Eri… can we talk about this another time?"

Eri huffed. "Fine."

* * *

"Rewind, huh?"

Eri fumbled with her hands nervously. They were sitting in an old, practically crumbling apartment. "Aren't ...you...scared?"

Denki ruffled her hair, a more comfortable action now, and looked at the girl fondly. "Why would I be scared over a stupid reason like that?"

Eri felt tears dripping down her cheeks. "I-I'm cursed...I-I'm dangerous...I-I-I killed my Father,  _I rewound him out of existence!"_

Denki took the tearful girl into his arms and rubbed soothing motions onto her back. "No one should have expected you to be able to control such a powerful Quirk so fast. We'll work on it step by step. Okay?"

Eri sniffled. "O-Ok."

* * *

Shouta liked to think he was a smart man. He could read people well and figure them out easily enough. His experience as a teacher and hero had only polished this skill.

Kaminari Denki, however, was a mystery.

Shouta had thought he had at least gotten some part of Kaminari figured out. A young, smart boy with a deep mistrust in adults and people in general. One who got through life through the skin of their teeth and was determined to continue through the rest the same way.

What he did not expect, was for the boy to take in a child. Not just any child, but a five-year-old girl called' Eri' at that. A girl who seemed quite taken with Kaminari; judging by how she trailed after him, calling him 'Nii-san'.

From what Shouta had observed, both kids were quite attached to each other. The girl constantly clinging and the boy with a protective streak that ran a mile wide.

He, naturally, confronted them about this.

"I didn't know the ever so mysterious Kaminari Denki had a little sister." Shouta frowned, cornering them in a street corner.

The boy, like always, simply raised his eyebrows at Shouta. "Ah, really."

Shouta frowned, noting the way Kaminari pushed the girl behind him. "The girl looks five kid, she doesn't deserve to be on the streets."

" 'The girl' deserves to live where she feels most safe." The boy retorted, hands coming to cross against his chest.

Shouta narrowed his eyes. "You don't think she'll be safe with the heroes?."

"Well," the boy drawled, "considering her previous situation, then no."

Shouta stared at him. "You think that she'll be safer with you then heroes," he said disbelievingly

"Yes."

"...you're delusional kid."

"Really? I've always thought of myself as quite the realist."

Shouta growled. "Kid, this isn't some laughing matter, she needs to go somewhere that is safe, protected and-"

"I want to stay with Nii-san." A shaky voice jumped in.

Shouta looked over to the trembling girl, who had, up until now, stayed silent. "Kid," he started gently, "living on the streets is dangerous, the heroes and authorities can-"

"But Nii-san saved me."

Shouta blinked. "What?"

The girl was shaking with sobs at this point.

"N-Nii-san saved me from villains, not the heroes, not the police. Nii-san did. I-If it wasn't for him I would be, I would be..."

Soft sobs had turned into full-blown waterworks.

Shouta was panicking at this point, awkwardly trying to calm the girl down..."Wait, uh… don't cry...just, uh."

Kaminari snickered at the flustered man.

' _Damn brat,'_ Shouta thought. Once he had gotten Eri to calm down, Shouta glared at the boy. "She seems comfortable with you, so I'll let it go on for now."

Kaminari gave him an eye-smile. "Thanks."

Shouta huffed. "But she can't keep living like this, sooner or later both of you will have to find a home or we will find one for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk what this is lol  
> EDIT1: I edited this again
> 
> EDIT2: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realise how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wtf

* * *

It had started off as a typical morning.

Wake up.

Get food.

Wake Eri.

Eat food.

Train.

Definitely not a glamorous morning, but a usual morning all the same.

Denki had been working with Eri on her Quirk. Trying too. The Quirk, it seemed, only worked in certain situations.

Then  _it_ happened.

"VILLAINS ARE ATTACKING,  **RUN!"**

Denki looked around, confused. ' _Villains?'_ He thought,  _'that's odd. We're in an abandoned clearing, there's no one here.'_ Denki paused, eyes widening. ' _If there's no one here then who said that.'_

Denki grabbed Eri by the collar, ignoring her shriek of surprise, and lifted her up bridal style, leaping off the clearing. As he expected, a figure appeared behind them and began to follow.

Gritting his teeth, he sped up his pace, determined to keep the distance. "Hold tight, Eri-chan."

Eri dug her head in his chest and gave him a muffled sound of consent.

Slowly, Denki let a steady, relatively harmless, buzz of electricity surround his feet, a knock-off version of the Raikage's technique.

' _Here we go.'_

Giving the ground a firm push he zipped through the air at an inhuman speed. Leaving the unknown figure in the literal dust.

* * *

In a swarm of dirt, a veiled silhouette stood, hysterical laughter filled the air.

' _So this is where you've run off too, Kakashi-_ _ **sensei**_ _.'_

* * *

"Where are we Nii-san?"

Denki gripped onto Eri reassuringly. "Somewhere safe."

"And this…is somewhere safe," Eri, with good reason, was looking at the dump with clear doubt.

"Well," Denki amended, "maybe not the safest, but Dagobah Beach is far enough to be a bit isolated from most of the city but close enough that it's on the authorities radar, so for us, this is ideal."

"Ohhh."

Denki carefully placed Eri down, wincing when she rubbed the place where he had grabbed her.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, Nii-san was just trying to protect me," Eri patted Denki on the head, "I forgive you."

He gave her a soft smile.  _'She really is adorable.'_

"Nii-san, look!" Denki snapped out of his daze, turning to Eri, who held out a piece metal in the shape of swan. "It's a bird!" She looked positively amazed at her 'discovery', setting herself a mission of finding more 'treasures'.

' _Eri's come a long way.'_ Denki reflected. He could still vividly remember their still-quite-recent first meeting, she didn't even have the strength to look him in the eye.  _'Those villains will pay for what they did.'_ Denki narrowed his eyes, ' _thinking of Villains, I wonder who was chasing us?'_

Sitting down on a nearby piece of metal, Denki began to ponder on the morning's situation.

' _The attacker was definitely after one of us, since they went out of their way to get to the clearing, but…'_ Denki clenched his fists. ' _How did they know we were there? Were they following us? Why did they 'warn' us? Why did they-'_

He buried his head into his hands.

' _Why is everything so complicated?'_

* * *

' _Why is everything so complicated?'_

Of course, not everything was complicated. Just one  _annoying_  brat who had to contradict  _everything_  Shouta knew about him.

Although he had told the kid that he would stop hounding him about the girl and their situation, that hadn't meant Shouta hadn't looked into their other options. Foster care was definitely one, but he doubted the boy would stay in one place long enough for them to reel him in, and no doubt the girl would follow as well.

There was also that 'previous situation' with the girl that the kid had mentioned. He hadn't pressed on the topic, with the girl right there, but the way he phrased it had hinted that the girl had been, and potentially still was, in danger. If his hunch was correct then the whole problem couldn't be solved with standard government care, since the girl would require additional protection.

Maybe he was looking into the boy's words too much.

_There are no matches for 'Eri' that falls under your description._

Probably not.

* * *

Shouta could feel his left eye twitching.

True, he had known that the brat and girl didn't have the best living conditions, but he had thought they at least had some sort of shelter.

But no, Shouta found them in a trash pile.

"Brat," irritation and worry bled through his voice, "why are you sleeping in a  _trash pile?"_

The boy, at least, had the sense to look a bit sheepish. "Well, this is more of a temporary thing, since someone was chasing us and-"

"Someone was  _chasing you?"_

The boy shrugged. "Maybe?"

You know what, screw it. Shouta was attached, not that he would admit it, and leaving them in a situation like this would give him grey hairs.

"Go get the girl," he gruffed.

The boy blinked. "What?"

"Get the girl, your staying with me."

" _Eh._ "

* * *

The first thing that registered Denki's mind was confusion. Eraserhead wanted them to  _live_  with him. That was...weird.

He liked the hero, and he was aware that perhaps Eraserhead shared some ondness for him. But he hadn't thought about it that much, simply putting it down to repeated exposure. Eri was one thing. She was a child who he had saved and had probably just latched onto the first person who showed her kindness. Eraserhead had no other reason to like him beyond his duty as a hero. Maybe the hero was fond of Eri and just took him along as a package deal? Yes...that made more sense. No one would  _willingly_ attach themselves to  _him_.

_Friend Killer Kakashi_

After all, with the exception of Gai, most of his loved ones became 'loved' simply because they  _had_  too. His students, his teammates, his sensei, they all became close after numerous trials and tribulations that they were forced to endure together. He wasn't even that close with his fellow Jounin. And the promotion to Hokage hadn't helped that much, either. It wasn't as if they didn't care for him, they did. He simply surrounded himself with walls that rarely anyone bothered to break down, and to be honest? He couldn't blame them.

Maybe he was looking into the gesture too much. The hero probably did it out of some misplaced pity than any genuine affection.

 _Right_ _?_

* * *

When Nii-san said told her they would be staying with a hero, she was very surprised.

She didn't have any not-nice feelings about heroes, but she knew Nii-san did.

He was very quiet about them, but Eri had paid close attention to his not-nice words. Especially the ones about Endeavour. They were mostly about him being more 'pompous' than the 'Uchiha'. Eri didn't actually know what he meant by that but it didn't sound nice.

But if Nii-san said they were going to stay with a hero then that's what they were doing. The hero was ok though, he mostly talked to Nii-san when they walked to his apartment. He did ask for her full name though, and got a weird look on his face when she said she didn't have one.

The hero-Aizawa-san, he said, seemed nice, almost as nice as Nii-san.

_Almost._

* * *

Bringing kids to his apartment was definitely one of the most spur of the moment decisions Shouta had ever made.

And at least a hundred passive aggressive insults later, he still couldn't bring himself to regret it.

Kaminari, for all his silly childishness, was far too mature for his liking. The way he scanned his surroundings, held himself to guard against potential attackers, was definitely not the way a child was supposed act. He had taught many kids before, and none could replicate the amount of paranoia Kaminari displayed. He doubted many  _heroes_  could be that paranoid.

It was disturbing. As a child, Kaminari shouldn't have gone through an experience that would instil that cautiousness.

And  _Eri,_ when he saw those scars on her hands he felt  _ashamed._

He was a hero, he knew he couldn't save everybody, but that didn't stop the pang in his heart when he didn't.

He was definitely going to help these kids.

_He had too_

* * *

Eraserhe-Aizawa lived in an ok apartment, for a hero anyway. The rooms were reasonably spacious and there was definitely more than enough room for one person.

Denki still felt rather awkward about the whole situation. The hero seemed to be walking on eggshells around them, despite the numerous barbs he exchanged with him.

As if he was afraid of hurting them.

Which was just silly. Eri may require a bit delicacy, but him? He was fine, he could handle himself fine, he could take care of himself fine.

Aizawa cleared his throat, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"So," the man began, "you two can stay in the guest room, there are two futons there and if you need anything just give me a call, I'll be patrolling at night."

Denki made a sound of consent, which Eri copied, and nudged them towards the allocated room. When they were behind closed doors he motioned for her to sit down.

"Do you want to tell him about your Quirk?"

Eri gripped her dress, flinching at the question.

"Look," Denki continued, "it's totally fine if you don't want too, we'll just avoid the topic."

Eri clasped onto his shirt. "I-I might tell him, b-but later."

Denki gave her a soft smile before patting her head. "You can tell him whenever you want."

* * *

Shouta had a problem. When he decided to bring children to his apartment he hadn't really thought it through. Now he was faced with a dilemma.

' _What did he_ _ **do**_   _with them?'_

Neither of them went to school, something Shouta would have to remedy, though Kaminari seemed to have a job which he disappeared too. Shouta would have to look into that 'job' at some point, but right now he had more pressing issues. Apparently, Kaminari normally left Eri with his 'boss' while he was at work but, of course, was now happy to foist that duty onto Shouta.

So here he was, half an hour before he had to go to school with a tearful child clinging onto him for dear life and a blond-haired brat nowhere to be seen.

' _Why me?''_

* * *

' _Shit, I'm late.'_

Denki was not a stranger to being late, but he had made it a point to be on time when things were important. And  _this_ was important.

Denki sprinted through through the pristine streets of Musutafu, stopping in front of a rickety house. A stern-looking women glared at him from the front yard.

"Oi, electro-brat, you're  _late."_  She grumbled.

Denki gave his boss a sheepish smile. "Only by a couple minutes, Kadae-san."

Kadae snorted, before noticing his lack of company. "Oh, did I finally scare of brat junior?"

Denki gave her an eye-smile. "I've found her some more...safer arrangements."

"Tsch, get to it delivery boy." She flung a package at him.

Denki caught the small box between his fingers and gave her a mock salute.

"Right away Madam."

* * *

 _**U.A. High School (** _ _**雄ゆう英えい高こう校こう** _ _**, Yūei Kōkō?) is an academy where students learn and train to become heroes** _

Coming to school with a sniffling child piggybacking his shoulders was  _not_  how Shouta wanted to start the day.

He was greeted with plenty of shocked looks and many 'I think I've gone mad' mutters, most of which he ignored. It wasn't like he cared about some hero-wannabe-brat's opinion.

What he cared about was the  _staff_.

He could already imagine it. Hizashi's obnoxious pestering, Nemuri's not-so-subtle cooing, and Nedzu's gentle probs that would no doubt coax the entire situation out of him.

Shouta shuddered at the thought.

' _Why me?'_

* * *

Denki leapt from rooftop to rooftop, focusing his electricity onto his feet, with a black box clutched towards his chest.

He was to deliver the package to a vigilante group that called themselves the Biju.

" _Electro-brat, I need you to deliver something."_

_Denki looked at Kaede blankly._

" _Isn't that my job?"_

_Kaede sighed. "The group requested you specifically."_

_Denki paused, that was worrying, he had made many precautions to keep his identity private. "What group is this?"_

" _They call themselves the Biju."_

Denki had considered it before, the thought that maybe he wasn't the only one to be ripped from his home. Of course, he couldn't get his hopes up, it could just be a coincidence.

' _But maybe…'_

* * *

Shouta was in hell.

 _Somehow_  everything had gone  _much_  worse then he had expected.

It started off as expected.

He entered the staffroom, Eri still clutching onto his shoulders. As expected, there was a few shattering sounds from dropped mugs, as expected, there were plenty of widening eyes. One of the staff members even fainted, which wasn't expected, but not that surprising either.

Then chaos.

" _Shouta has a daughter._ "

"Don't be ridiculous, they look nothing like each other."

"I think I need to go lie down."

" _Oh my god, she's_ _ **adorable."**_

"Can I hold her?"

"Eraserhead is  _piggybacking_ a kid."

"Does someone have a camera?"

"Now, now, everyone settle down, I'm sure Eraserhead will tell us about his guest." Nedzu smiled. "I'm certain he has  _quite_  the tale for us."

Shouta shuddered at the dark aura coming from the Principal. The rodent didn't like being in the know not. Of course the Principal would be digging for information now.

' _How pleasant.'_

* * *

"Is it him?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Tsch, what a pain."

"Aww, don't be shy Kurama, we know you missed him."

" _I-I did not."_

"Of course you missed your precious  _Sensei."_

" _HE WAS NARUTO'S SENSEI, NOT MINE!"_

* * *

"So you ended up taking both kids in."

Shouta nodded, awkwardly adjusting Eri as she slept on his lap.

Nedzu raised his (non-existent) eyebrows. "Wasn't that a bit risky? We seem to have little information on them?"

"Hey," Hizashi interjected, "they're only kids."

"And this one's  _adorable,_ " Nemuri cooed.

"I think what Eraserhead did was admirable," Nedzu admitted, "but there's no harm in being cautious."

"Fair enough."

Nedu sipped his tea before smiling. "For now, the girl can shadow you in class, but we'll have to find some more permanent arrangements for them."

Shouta nodded. "Thank you, Principal."

Nedzu laughed. "No problem."

* * *

"So this is it, the base for the Biju's." Denki started the lone warehouse sitting in the middle of the clearing

In all honesty, it wasn't that great. Hell, the building looked like someone had run it over and then tried to glue back together with a hot glue gun.

Though, Denki mused, that was probably the point. Since vigilantism was illegal and they probably didn't want to attract attention.

' _Let's see if my hunch is right.'_

Tossing the black box absentmindedly in the air, Denki made his way to the door. Keeping his senses alert, he cautiously knocked on the door. Almost immediately he could hear yelling voices and crashing noises. Eventually, someone did approach the door. Hearing the lock click, Denki braced himself preparing himself for an attack, the door cracked open and...a fox appeared?

' _Wait_   _that's-'_

"We meet again Kakashi _-sensei._ "

' _-the_ _ **Kyuubi.'**_

* * *

"...Aizawa-sensei."

" _What."_ Shouta answered irritably.

The student winced. "There's a little girl."

"I know."

"She's sitting on your lap."

"I know."

"She's  _braiding your hair._ "

"I know, stop asking useless questions and  _get back to work."_

The student whimpered. " _This is just a dream, "_  he muttered, " _just a dream, no way Aizawa-sensei would bring a little girl to class. I'm just dreaming, someone wake me up."_

Shouta could feel his left eye twitching. "This is Foundational Hero Studies, not a therapy session,  _work._ "

"Oh crap, I think he fainted."

Shouta sighed.

' _Today_ 's  _going to be a long day.'_

* * *

 

"Sooo." Denki scanned the room apprehensively.

Kurama snorted. "Cut to the chase brat."

Denki gave him a sheepish smile. "Can we introduce ourselves?"

A murmurer of agreement. 

A man with a black and gold tail smirked cockily at him. "Yo, I'm Shukaku, but you weaklings called me One-Tail."

Beside Shukaku, a woman with twin blue and black tails wacked the man on the head, clearing her throat before saying, "I am Matatabi, but you may have known me as Two-Tails."

From across the room, a man with three gray tails rubbed his head sheepishly. "I-I am Isobu, but I was also called Three-Tails."

Standing close to Denki, a man with four red tails puffed out his chest. "I am Son Goku, you may  _ **not**_  call me Four-Tails."

At the corner  of the room, a man with five white tails nodded at Denki eloquently. "I am Kokuo, but I was also referred to as Five-Tails."

A man sitting at the couch waved at him. "I'm Saiken, but the humans called me Six-Tails." He waved his six slimy tails.

Next to Saiken, a man with six wings and an insect tail smiled cheerfully at Denki. "I'm  _Lucky_  Seven Chomei, but you probably know me as  _lucky_  Seven-Tails."

A man standing next to Kurama nodded at him, eight octopus tails flailing around him. "I am Gyuki, otherwise spoken as Eight-Tails."

"Tsch," Kurama scowled at him, nine furry red tails lolling by his feet. "I'm Kurama."

Denki looked over them carefully, before giving his own introduction. "I'm Kaminari Denki, but I'm also Kakashi Hatake."

Kurama snorted at him. "Brat's sensei got turned into a brat himself."

Denki scratched his head, sitting himself down at a couch. "I was hoping you could give an explanation for that."

"Well," Matabi began, "we  _think_  it was a jutsu gone wrong-"

"-a jutsu using  _your_  blood," Gyuki interjected.

"We think that someone was messing with samples of our chakra," said Kokuo.

"And they used some of your  _lucky_ blood."

"They were probably trying to use our chakra to mess with space and time-," said Saiken.

"-but failed and so now we're here," finished Kurama.

Denki took in the information with a sigh. "How do we get back."

The Biju paused. "You can't."

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realise how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sup

* * *

 

"Oh."

Kurama eyed Denki wearily.

"You're taking this rather calmly."

Denki shrugged. "I was already dead, so I kind of expected it," Denki glanced at the Biju, "what about you guys?"

"As you can see," Gyuki answered, "we are in a humanoid form and retain our chakra characteristics, in a way that could likely pass off as a Quirk."

"So you're human now?"

"Nah," Shukaku interjected, "if we kick the bucket here we'll respawn back home."

"Oh," Denki stated curiously, "why's that?"

"Because this is only a bit of our  _lucky_ chakra," Chomei replied, "the rest is back at the Elemental Nations so when we 'die' we will rejoin the rest of our  _lucky_ chakra."

"Huh," Denki looked thoughtful, "so when I die I'll just die."

"Yes."

_Huh._

* * *

"Laaaa, laa-la, la-la-la-la-laaaa. Laaaa, laa-la, la-la-la-la-laaaaaaa."

Shouta sighed at the rambunctious child singing on his shoulders. The girl seemed to have enjoyed playing with the students, who appeared have to taken quite a shine to her. They had even (unfortunately) taught her a couple of tunes, which Eri seemed to have taken to heart.

"Hey, Hero-san, do you know when Nii-san will come back?"

Shouta sighed, "actually, I was wondering if you knew."

Eri hummed. "Nii-san never took this long, normally he just leaves me with Kaede-san for a couple hours, but he left me with you for a  _whole day!"_

"I see," Shouta hummed, "is Kaede-san...nice to you?"

Eri blinked before shrugging, "I guess? She just gives me some books and snacks and types on her computer most of the time."

"I see," so the brat wasn't leaving her with someone who was going to hurt her, nice to know.

An excited yelp and a vigorous shake of the shoulders cut him from his thoughts.

"LOOK, it's Nii-san!" Eri clumsily clambered off his shoulders and rushed to meet the young teen standing in front of his apartment.

Kaminari lifted Eri into his arms, hugging her to his chest. "Nice to see you too, Eri-chan."

Shouta walked lazily behind Eri, giving the boy a half-hearted nod. "Stop loitering and get inside," he ordered as opened his apartment door.

"Oook."

Eri dragged the teen inside, chattering innocently about all the people she had met, in particular, the ' _super cool but weird looking principal that was really really really cute!'_

After Eri had calmed down, she was (reluctantly) put to bed for a nap, and he was left with the teen, who seemed content enough to ignore him and read his bright orange book.

Well, Kaminari might be content enough, but Shouta wanted answers.

"So you have a job."

"How else did you think I was living?" Kaminari answered loftly, not taking his eyes off his book.

Shouta hummed, that was true, Kaminari had always looked quite clean for someone he had assumed was homeless. "Is this job legal?"

"Yes."

Shouta narrowed his eyes. That was straightforward, but not necessarily the truth.

"What is your job?''

"I deliver things."

"What things?"

"Whatever the clients want."

"And what do the clients want?"

"Books, toys, the usual."

"Right."

Shouta didn't know whether to believe him or not. The boy was being vague, and an ordinary delivery job wouldn't get enough money to sustain oneself in Musutafu, then again it wasn't like Eri and Kaminari were living lavishly. "You mentioned before, that the trash pile thing was temporary, where did you live before that?"

Kaminari seemed a bit surprised at the question, finally glancing away from his book and looking at him. "Ah, my boss gave me an apartment in Garakuto."

Shouta raised his eyebrows at that. "Really? Your boss gave a  _delivery boy_ an apartment?"

The boy shrugged. "It was a crap apartment in a crap city."

Shouta frowned. "If you lived in Garakuto why were you in Musutufu all the time? And why were you sleeping at Dagobah Municipal Beach Park?"

"A lot of clients are in Musutafu, and we were being chased that time so I thought Musutafu was safer."

Right the chase, he had mentioned it before. "Do you know who was chasing you."

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"..."

"I'm going to check on Eri."

"Fine."

The teen left, and Shouta retired to ponder over the new information.

* * *

"Back again brat?"

Kurama stretched lazily across a worn couch, giving the teen a half-lidded glance.

Denki hummed from his position on the rough floor. "Eri's with the heroes and I finished my job, so now I've got time to kill." He looked around the empty room. "Where is everybody?"

Kurama snorted. "Doing some 'vigilante shit'."

"So they're intending to make as much chaos possible?"

"That'd be it."

Denki raised his eyebrows. "I don't see you joining them?"

Kurama puffed out his chest. "I am above such mundane things."

Denki hummed once more, and a comfortable silence elapsed the room.

Kurama was the one to break it. "What are you going to do?"

Denki glanced up from his book. "What do you mean?"

Kurama moved around to stare directly at Denki. "The other Biju's have already decided on what they're going to do with this life, but what about you?"

Denki closed his eyes and exhaled. "I don't know, take care of Eri, I guess?"

"Become a Pro-Hero."

Denki turned sharply towards him. "What."

"I mean," Kurama continued, "you have the skill for it, and considering the brat that you're dragging around it'd be safer for her."

"I'm not a hero."

"You're not," Kurama admitted, "but you would be a better hero than most people here."

"No."

Kurama gave him a piercing stare. "Yes, no matter what you do you're going to get involved, just look at what happened with the brat."

"I can take care of myself." Denki retorted.

"But can she?"

"..."

Kurama sighed. "Just think about it."

Denki nodded reluctantly, getting up to leave before pausing. "How do you even know all this?"

Kurama smirked. "Don't let our human form fool you, we are Biju, we have our ways."

"Right."

Denki left.

* * *

"Eraserhead," the Principal greeted him at the UA gate, "I see Eri-chan has joined you again."

Shouta nodded him, glancing back at the five-year-old clinging to his arm.

"Where is the other child you spoke of?" The rodent asked.

Shouta could feel a frown sink into his face. "He disappeared again."

The Principal raised his non-existent eyebrows. "You didn't question him about his disappearances?"

Shouta had, the brat had just conveniently not mentioned where exactly his job was and Shouta had conveniently forgotten to ask because he was distracted by the other information given. So now they were back to square one.

The Principal seemed to read his expression and sighed.

"You should bring him to UA." ' _So we can see if he's dangerous,'_  was unspoken.

"I'll drag him by his teeth next time." Shouta promised.

The Principal smiled. "Of course, and I have something for Eri-chan!"

The mentioned girl snapped abruptly from her daydream and looked curiously at the Principal.

The rodent held out a small identification card, which she took cautiously, looking quite surprised. "What's this?"

The Principal chuckled. "It's an ID card, so if you ever get separated from Aizawa, you can still come to UA."

The girl clutched the card to her chest. "T-Thank you!"

The Principal smiled fondly. "It's no problem, Eri-chan."

Shouta cleared his throat.

"Right, right," the Principal motioned for them to follow, "let's go inside."

It must have been an odd sight. A mutant looking animal leading a homeless looking man who was clutching an exuberant little girl.

Shouta sighed.

' _So far so good, maybe this wasn't such a bad decision.'_

How wrong he was.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realise how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.
> 
> EDIT: I split this chapter, it just sounds better to me.


	5. Chapter 3a

* * *

If you asked Denki how he got in this situation he would probably tell you to go screw yourself. He wasn't in the best of moods, which was perfectly understandable, considering the fact he was drugged and locked in what he thought was a basement in an unknown location for an unknown reason. Denki wasn't just annoyed, he was downright pissed.

_**Flashback three hours ago:** _

_Denki had been walking down the streets, minding his own business when he heard screaming, loud, painful, ear-shattering, screaming. Had he been any normal civilian he probably would have just ignored it, maybe call the police if he was in a good mood. Of course, Denki wasn't a normal civilian._

_He jogged over to the location of the screams, as he came closer he could hear them getting softer._

' _Shit,' he thought._

_Denki sped up, finally reaching the location, where he wasn't met with a distraught person but rather a...black hole?_

_Darkness seeped into his vision._

" _Target captured."_

 _A scoff could be heard. "What a_ _**hero** _ _." The last word was laced in disgust._

" _Now, now, Tomura, it was because of that we managed to capture him so easily."_

_Another scoff. "Whatever."_

_**Fast-forward three hours:** _

Denki had been brooding in the basement for a while. Well, he  _thought_ it was a basement, to be honest, he wasn't sure, it was pitch black and the drugs were blurring his senses. Denki was just pissed at the fact he got caught in the first place, he was a  _Shinobi._  Sure, he had just been shifted into an entirely new body, but that didn't excuse the incompetence. At this point, Denki had run through  _multiple_ methods that could have prevented this, but it was useless now. He had been caught and nothing now could change that. All he could do was escape. Which shouldn't be so much of an issue now his brain was less foggy.

' _Ok, planning time.'_

No one had appeared to check on him, which meant three things:

1\. They were dumb.

2\. They underestimated him.

3\. They had other means to observe him.

Personally, he was hoping for 1 or 2, but he couldn't ignore 3. So Denki had to be cautious.

First, he loosened the handcuffs placed on his arms and legs, discreetly. A slightly more difficult job in this body but achievable nonetheless. With the extra freedom in movement, he began to feel around the room, his other senses couldn't be trusted while drugged.

' _The floor feels like metal,'_  he thought,  _steel if I'm to guess, it's too tough to be anything else, the walls are surprisingly within arms reach, so the room must be tightly enclosed, can I stand…?'_

A soft banging sound.

' _I'm in a box?'_

That was embarrassing, Denki couldn't believe he thought a box was a basement, the drugs were more potent than he thought.

' _But why a box?'_ Perhaps he was being treated like a commodity because his kidnappers intended to use like one. Quirk Traffickers maybe?

' _I can definitely break the box,'_  he reflected, " _and I'm probably not being watched, but wherever I am is unknown so it's risky, I can't afford to be caught off guard while I'm still drugged.'_

If Denki were in Kakashi's body he would have definitely taken the risk _,_ if only because he was confident in that body's strength, but Denki right now was weak.

' _But what choice do I have? It's either that or wait.'_ Sighing, Denki slid off the cuffs completely and begun to slowly charge his Quirk threw his body.

' _I'll have to make run for it in the confusion, I'm not in a position to fight anyone.'_ Denki tensed. ' _3, 2, 1.'_

Twisted metal fell to the floor of a musty bar and its occupants looked up to him in surprise.

' _Bar, shady, grunts, weak, escape.'_ He ran.

The villains broke away from their stupor.

"DON'T LET THE BRAT ESCAPE," one cried, "HE'S OUR BARGAINING CHIP AGAINST THE BIJU!"

At the idiotic villain's declaration, they attempted to surround him.

Denki eyed the circle of villains with distaste. There were more people than he had expected but they didn't seem that strong. Breaking through would be easy, but it would be troublesome if they decided to follow, he wasn't in the best condition to outrun them, especially now they had gotten their shit together. A little shock shouldn't take too much out of him, it's not like it was chakra.

Golden sparks danced off his arms.

The villains gave an extremely girly squeal.

Denki escaped smoothly.

' _They really did underestimate me,'_  Denki thought as he ran through the rooftops, ' _leaving me with the grunts was a stupid move on their part, but it worked out for me.'_ Denki grimaced, ' _I've been getting complacent, the fact they managed to find out my relationship with the Biju is a huge misstep on my part, let alone the fact they managed to capture me.'_ He sighed, ' _I'll have to talk to_ them  _about this.'_

' _How troublesome'_

* * *

"Nii-san isn't here yet."

"I know."

"School's over."

"I know."

"It's 9 o'clock."

"I know."

"He's never been out this late."

"So you've told me."

"He isn't here."

Shouta sighed. They'd been doing this for the past hour, and he honestly couldn't think of anything else to comfort the girl. Not that repetitive questioning was that comforting either, but that was all the girl wanted to do. However, it was getting late and Shouta had hero work to do.

"I think you should get to bed."

Eri looked up at him in apparent shock. "But Nii-san isn't back yet!"

"I'll wake you up as soon he does," Shouta promised.

She hesitated at that, looking torn between her drowsiness and the brat. "But don't you have to do hero stuff to do?"

"If the brat isn't back soon I'll get Hizashi to come over."

The girl looked appeased at that. " 'k, but you have to pinky promise," she held out her pinky finger expectantly.

Shouta wrapped his finger around hers. "Promise."

Satisfied with the childish oath, Eri traipsed off to bed. Shouta, in the meantime, brought out his phone.

" _Shouta?''_

" _Hizashi, I need a favour."_

* * *

Chaos for a good cause. That was the Biju's goal in this world. Mostly because Naruto would be very disappointed in them if they did anything else. Kurama had liked this goal purely because it was a good excuse to screw with the humans, and they could easily handle any repercussions - the Biju were all-powerful after all. What they didn't take into account, however, were the repercussions against their acquaintances. More specifically, Kakashi. So when he turned up to their hideout drugged and bruised, Kurama was more than a little pissed.

Kakashi had, of course, been swiftly healed and (forcefully) put to sleep while the Biju gathered around to discuss the event.

"What did he say?" Gyuki started the conversation.

"Some villains intended to use him as an un _lucky_ bargaining chip against us."

"So who do I need to kill?" Shukaku asked.

"A group with a member by the name of  _Tomura."_ Kokuou answered.

" _Tomura_? Isn't that the kid in the League of Villains." Son Goku pointed out

"Is he? I suppose we know who to kill now."

"Don't be hasty Saiken, first we must investigate." Matatabi reasoned.

"I vote we just kill them all."

"That is not a Naruto-approved method, Shukaku."

"And since when have you cared about approval,  _Matatabi._ "

"Since we decided to stop senseless killing, clearly not all of us have matured from our past."

" _Why you little-"_

"Enough."

The Biju flinched. Kurama continued.

"We will dispose of the enemy, and we will do it in a way that will screw them over as much as possible, a direct attack is too merciful." Kurama grinned. " _We'll show them hell."_

* * *

Denki woke up in a bed. Which was weird, because he didn't remember getting into a bed, he did, however, remember being knocked out by a certain octo-man.

' _Ah, that's probably why.'_

His head hurt. Actually, his whole body hurt. But what hurt the most, was his pride.

 _Kakashi of the Sharingan, The Copy-Ninja, reduced a fumbling mess by what? A_ _ **surprise**_   _attack._

He felt pathetic. He felt like a dead-weight, he felt powerless, he felt  _weak._

"Oi, brat."

Denki glanced up, staring at him was Kurama, who was studying him like a specimen, which, considering the Biju's immense pride, was probably exactly what he what he was doing.

"Yes?"

The Biju frowned and continued to stare.

Never had Denki wished for his beloved orange book than now. It always did wonders in avoiding awkward situations like this.

" _Delicate."_

Denki's ears twitched at the murmured statement."What?"

Kurama kept frowning and continued to mutter.

" _-shouldn't be surprised, Naruto was always a weirdly happy ninja, the only thing that would have the same stubborn will to live as him would be a cockroach. I guess Hashirama would come pretty close, but every other ninja is an angsty piece of shit, of course his Sensei would be no different. Stupid and emotionally delicate with a traumatising backstory to summarize their shitty lives -"_

Denki sweat-dropped. " _Ah-hem."_

Kurama scowled. "What, it's true."

Denki gave an awkward laugh. "I guess, but you didn't need to…" He trailed off, Kurama was giving him the ' _I-am-a-BIJU-and-therefore-superior-to-you-in-every-way'_ glare.

"Look," Kurama began, "humans are all selfish, greedy, and proud beings, the only difference between them is that some possess more of one quality than the other." Kakashi opened his mouth to argue but clammed up at the Biju's 'shut-up-and-listen' glare. "That's not to say humans can't be good, as I so recently learned, some simply use those qualities for the sake of others. In the end, however, you are all one and the same and are ultimately flawed. For you, your pride has been hurt. Your strength was your source of comfort in this world of unfamiliarity and having it shaken has made you uneasy. Closing yourself up to 'protect' everyone is just a selfish act on your part to make yourself more comfortable. So stop whining and get a hold of yourself!" Kurama practically growled the last part.

"...I wasn't whining."

Kurama snorted. "Maybe not on the outside."

"For someone who claimed to have hated humans for the majority of their life," Denki smirked,"you really seemed to have paid attention to them."

"What else are you supposed to do when you're stuck inside one of them." Kurama snarked.

"...right."

Kurama smirked and stood up to leave the quaint room - not before flicking a piece of fabric at him. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to rub it into Naruto's face, that I managed to unmask his sensei before he did."

Denki caught the mask with one hand, gripping his naked face with the other. He could feel his left eyebrow twitching at the fox's smug face.

' _Stupid fox'_

He would forever deny the hint of fondness that laced that thought.

* * *

Shouta was tired. Underground hero work was exhausting enough, simultaneously searching for a blond brat seemed to multiply it by a hundred. Despite his efforts, however, he still couldn't find Kaminari. No clues, not even a hint. Nothing. Which was annoying, Shouta had always prided himself as a competent pro-hero, his current struggle to find a child he was familiar with was disconcerting. But the sun had begun to rise, and as much as Shouta didn't want to return to Eri empty-handed, it was looking like he had no choice.

...until he spotted a very familiar blond head walking through the empty streets of Musutafu.

Narrowing his eyes, Shouta darted over to the figure, grabbing their shoulder in a firm grip. "Excuse me."

The figure turned, and he was met with the guilty, sheepish, half-masked face of his ward.

"...yo?"

Clutching the boy's arm in an almost bone-breaking grip, Shouta gave him a twisted grin. "It's a bit late for a greeting, isn't it?"

"Ha ha ha…" Kaminari laughed awkwardly.

"We should hurry back," his grip tightened, "Eri been very worked about her Nii-sans disappearance. I'm sure we'd all  _love_ to hear what happened."

"...Of course." Was the sheepish answer he got.

Shouta kept hold of the boy's arm as they walked to his apartment.

"What am I? A three-year-old?" The boy complained

"No, but you act like one." Shouta retorted.

He tsched.

They continued their conversation in light-hearted barbs, as Shouta led them over to his apartment. He was relieved, more than he cared to admit, that he had found the boy. Almost relieved enough to miss the slight limp in Kaminari's left leg, or the dizzy way he seemed to carry himself.

 _Almost_.

* * *

Denki could feel himself wilting at the I'm-disappointed-in-you-what-the-hell-did-you-think-you-were-doing look Aizawa was giving him. He shouldn't, being three times the man's mental age. But something about Aizawa seemed so…chastising.

A blond man was watching T.V in Aizawa's apartment when they reached the complex, apparently he was there to babysit Eri while Aizawa was out - which made the guilt in Denki's chest sink even further- and left quite abruptly at their arrival.

Eri, who had been awake in anticipation for Denki's arrival - his guilt was now an anchor- had rushed up to him and gifted him with a barrage of hugs and kisses.

"NII-SAN, YOU'RE BAAACK!"

Denki patted her head fondly. "I'm back."

Aizawa cleared his throat. "Eri, have you cleaned your room?"

Eri gasped. "NO, I'LL DO IT NOW."

Giving Denki one last hug she raced back to their room.

' _Great,'_ Denki internally sighed, ' _now it's just me and him.'_

"So what were you doing?" Aizawa questioned, " Why were you late? Why are you injured?"

' _Shit,'_ Denki thought, ' _he noticed the injury.'_ He clapped his hands together.

" _Well_ ," Denki began, "I was walking back from work, like normal, at 4 o'clock, when I was drawn to the cries of help of an elderly lady who had broken her leg while grocery shopping. So me being the amazing gentleman I am, decided to take this ill-fated civilian to the hospital. She, naturally, was  _entranced_ by my  _stunning_ good looks and personality, and simply  _begged_ me to accompany her while she waited for the doctor. And how could I abandon a fellow citizen in need? I stayed with her out of the goodwill in my heart, but before I knew it, minutes had turned into hours, and hours into a whole night. When I realized how much time had gone I left the hospital in such a rush that I tripped over the stairs and ended up with a bruise on my left leg. This was, and is, a one-time thing by the way and will likely never happen again so you shouldn't have to worry about it in the future."

In all honesty, Denki was quite proud of his fabricated story. Especially since it was improvised. Sure he had come up with many excuses on the spot before, but this one, in his opinion, was the cream of the crop.

Aizawa, it seemed, did not appreciate his story as much.

"So if you tell me the name of the hospital you went too," he said in an unimpressed voice, "I would be able to ring them and find an old woman with a broken leg who was brought in by a blond kid by the name of Denki?"

"Ah well," Denki rubbed the back of his head, "I was bit stressed at the time, so in all the rush I didn't quite catch the name of the hospital."

Denki would be lying if he said he didn't feel guilty. But that didn't make Aizawa's expression any less amusing. He never knew it was possible to have one's' eyebrow twitch that much.

"This is your way of saying you're not going to tell me, isn't it?"

"Of course not."

"Problem child."

Despite everything, Denki laughed.

And Aizawa would probably deny the small upward twitch of his lips.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realise how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.
> 
> EDIT: I split this chapter, it just sounds better to me.


	6. Chapter 4

* * *

Kaminari came with them to school, much to Shouta's annoyance. The boy still had serious injuries, despite his claims on them being 'not too big of a deal', and needed a rest. But Kaminari, being the stubborn brat he was, had put up a good argument, so Shouta had been forced to concede.

' _At least this way,'_ Shouta consoled himself, ' _I can keep an eye on him, if I leave him on his own he might wander back to that 'job' of his, even if he claims that today is his 'off' day.'_

So here he was, standing at the gates of UA once again attached to an overly-exuberant child but now with the exclusive addition of a porn-reading teen. Shouta had been tempted to take it off him, but the allure of his fellow teacher's reaction was too much. Besides, Eri couldn't read Kanji yet anyway,

"So this is UA, huh." Kaminari looked at the building appraisingly.

"You sound disappointed," Shouta smirked, "does it not please your  _delicate_ senses?"

"Weell," Kaminari squinted at it, "it could use a bit more colour, too much blue in my opinion. Perhaps a bit of green? Maybe some orange? A dash of pink? Or maybe some-"

"This is a school for heroes, not preschoolers," Shouta retorted dryly, "there's no need to colour it like a rainbow."

"You know I read somewhere that both children  _and_ teens find an array of colours comforting," Kaminari lectured in his typical sarcastic manner, "something about the variety giving off positive imagery that tends to trigger dopamine-"

"Shut up."

* * *

Nedzu loved kids. Nedzu loved heroes. These two loves were what lead him to become the Principal of UA. It was a tough job, made even more difficult by his not-so-human identity. But it was rewarding, especially at times like this.

He spun around in his desk, tea in hand.

Kaminari Denki. A boy swaddled in so many mysteries that Nedzu could feel himself shaking in anticipation. He'd been observing the boy through the plentifull security cameras residing at UA and Nedzu had to admit, he was intrigued.

The first thing he -and most people- noticed was the porn. It was a brilliant strategy, a way to both to pull and push attention on and off the boy. Kaminari had chosen, out of all possible options, the most  _well-known_ title. This, of course, could be a matter of personal preference, but with Kaminari being such enthralling character, Nedzu couldn't help but dig deeper. Walking around with well-known porn could do wonders for one's self-image. Any shred of dignity that person had would go down the drain at an unbelievable rate! Which, in Nedzu's opinion, really showed how sensitive humans were to sexual expression, but that was redundant. Or was it? Walking around with porn would cause some especially sensitive people to shy away from any direct contact with him, generally in fear of losing face. Leaving the boy to deal and sort out any particular upstanding confrontational people. After that, however, the only people left would be the people willing to interact with him would be on the basis of personal merit. An excellent strategy to minimize socialization!

Another thing that could be looked into further detail was the unconscious underestimation the obvious porn suggested? Perhaps the way the boy never made a sound while he walked? Or the way he discreetly glanced at each passing camera and sensory device? Maybe the way he maintained both a slouch and battle-ready posture? Even the mask was a topic that sparked debates in his head! Especially the-

_*crack*_

Shattered china dug into his paws.

' _Oh dear me, '_ he gave a small laugh, ' _I got a bit too excited there.'_

* * *

The Principal was an...interesting character. Perhaps not someone Denki would willingly interact with on a daily basis, but interesting all the same. The mouse-bear-creature himself seemed quite fascinated with Denki, asking him many probing and frankly quite personal questions. Naturally, he responded mostly with lies and half-truths. He'd already looked into the Principal's Quirk, High-Specs, he was sure he could get away with it as long it was done convincingly.

"Do you go to school?"

Denki narrowed his eyes slightly at that. As nice as it would have been to lie, Aizawa already knew he didn't. "...no," he answered.

The Principal beamed at that. "Great! I'll get you an application form for UA, Eraserhead could also recommend you if you want, or you could take the entrance exam, either way is totally fine and up to you!"

"But-"

"-I've also arranged a list of nearby Elementary School's for Eri, we'll have to patch up some of her records, yours as well."

"What-"

"-I've already called for Recovery Girl to take care of the medical ones, so you'll need to go for a checkup right after this, but we can handle the rest, though we might get an official to check over information about familial ties, there have been a couple errors in your file that could result in legal penalties, but that's for later. You're good to go for now!"

Denki felt confused in a way he hadn't felt since the death of a certain red-headed Uzumaki. It was almost nostalgic, if it weren't for the growing dread inside him. Like an important decision that he should have been a part of had been forcefully taken and decided for him, in a way that did not benefit him at all. The smug grin resting on the Principal face did not help at all.

A sharp jab on his calf brought him back.

"Is this the boy I'm supposed to check?"

Denki turned around to see an old lady with a giant walking syringe-stick.

' _Recovery Girl.'_

The women studied him with critical eyes. "Well, come on then."

Denki followed her quietly, he knew better than to get on a medic's bad side.

* * *

"So that's the other kid?"

"How disrespectful, reading such atrocities in public."

"How  _ **bold.**_ "

"I wonder what made Shouta so attached to him?"

"It must be something special, the man's acting like a possessive mother around the both of them."

"He is?"

 _*Sigh*_ "It may take a while, but one day you too will be able to see the many faces that are Aizawa Shouta."

" _Hey!"_

* * *

"Just lie down over there, for now, I just need to get a couple things."

Denki gingerly laid himself on the bed, taking in the medical equipment apprehensively.

' _Maybe I could make a run for it?'_  He wondered, before shaking his head. ' _No, they'll catch me in a second with those cameras. Could they though? I've never tested the boundaries of that speed boost. This_ _ **is**_ _a dire situation, the risk would be worth it if I succeed-'_

"I'm back." The nurse returned with a bundle of papers and multiple, thankfully smaller, syringes.

She frowned at his tensed position. "No need to be nervous, I'm just writing up your medical history. We'll do a blood test first, then a physical examination and, depending on the results, some immunisations. Ok?"

' _No.'_

"Ok."

The nurse did exactly what she said would, and, with much pain from Denki's part, took a blood test. It was dreadful, Denki barely even knew the woman, but was now forced to lie here and let her stick a syringe in him. Honestly, who knew what was  _in_ that? The physical examination was alright. Though he did get a disapproving look at the injuries he sported from last night. The immunisation was what he feared the most. She was going to be putting foreign substances into him! What if she was a spy? What if it was poison? What if it was drugs? What if it was-

' _Ok, calm down. This is_ _ **not**_   _the Five Great Shinobi Nations, no need for Shinobi paranoia. This is standard, this is normal. It doesn't matter if she's not a Leaf-Shinobi, because there_ _ **are no**_ _Shinobi. No one's out to kill me here, they just want to use me as a bargaining chip, which actually isn't that much of an improvement. Wait. What if_ _ **she's**_   _drugging so she can take me back there? No, the security here is too tight, and Aizawa would never let that happen. Or would he? I haven't known him that long. What if he's-'_

"That's all done. I'll call you back to ask some questions. Take a candy on your way out."

Denki blinked. Done? That was quick. He felt surprisingly fine. And last night's injuries were pretty much gone. So she was alright then? Wait. What if the drugs had delayed effects. What if-

"You seem quite attached to that bed." The nurse raised an eyebrow, "I was under the impression you weren't fond of hospitals?"

Flinching at the question, Denki hastily removed himself from both the bed and room.

" _Take a candy!"_

' _Heck no.'_

* * *

Denki scowled as walked through the UA corridors.

' _Stupid doctors and their stupid treatments,'_ he thought. ' _Why do they always shove themselves in front of my face?_

' _ **Because you always get hurt**_ _,'_ another part of his mind traitorously whispered. ' _ **And because they care for you.'**_

' _Shut up,'_ he retorted.

Denki was sulking. Very few people would be able to notice it, none of who were here, but he was. Denki was  _not_ happy with the paranoia that the checkup had caused. Sure, he hated hospitals. But it was never  _that_ bad. True, someone always had to be there to make sure he didn't run for the hills, but he had never gotten a panic attack because of them.

' _ **Except for that one time-'**_

' _Shut up._  '

Great, now he was arguing with himself. That really boosted his opinion about his mental stability. Anyway, maybe the panic was because of that whole 'world of unfamiliarity' thing that Kurama was talking about? Thinking of which, Kurama seemed to hold all the answers lately, it was like having the wise old Third back. Then again, Kurama was really old, it shouldn't be that surprising, at least some wisdom must have rubbed off on him. Maybe he should ask the fox? Kurama would probably give a decent answer, it was just a matter of separating it from his degrading comments about humanity. Yes. That was a plan. He would ask Kurama.

' _ **The fact that you trust emotional advice from a Chakra Beast made of Hate more than yourself really speaks wonders about your sanity.'**_

' _Shut. Up.'_

* * *

"So?"

"He doesn't mean us any harm."

Shouta frowned at the poker-faced Principal.

"But...?"

"He's dangerous."

* * *

Eri liked UA. It was safe. It was warm. It was home. The heroes and students here were really nice. Much better than before. Much better.

Aizawa-san was the nicest one, the loud one was second and the one who made people feel sleepy was third. They were the ones that looked after her the most when she was here.

Eri hadn't told Aizawa-san about her Quirk. She wanted too. She  _really_ wanted too.

But she was afraid.

Afraid, that the soft smile he looked at her with would disappear. Afraid, that those warm arms that hugged her would disappear. Afraid. She was too afraid.

Nii-san loved her. She loved Nii-san. But she didn't love Aizawa-san. She liked him, and Aizawa-san liked her. But they didn't love each other. She liked the heroes. The heroes liked her. But they didn't love each other either.

She didn't know if they would keep liking her if they found out.

They didn't love her, after all. Only Nii-san did.

* * *

Denki had been abandoned. Aizawa, that cruel, heartless, cold-blooded man, had thrown him in with the metaphorical sharks. Eri, thankfully, had been saved from this torture, but Aizawa had not been willing to spare him as well.

Denki had been tossed into the heart of High-school Hero Politics in UA. The cafeteria.

It was the war ground between different departments, with the heroes-in-training at the centre of it all. The Gen-ed, envious, the Business, scouting, and the Support, advertising. It was madness.

In between it all lay poor, innocent, him. A young boy brought to the school yet not in a uniform. An anomaly.

Denki's only line of defence battled hard. The blatant titling and obnoxious colouring managed to avert some eyes. But alas, one did not get into UA for nothing, curious brats had fearsome determination. The porn could only do so much.

As such, he was forced to be the centre of bullet-like stares for the entire period.

Attention, it was awful.

Denki mourned for his future self.

* * *

Kaminari returned to the empty staff room with a traumatized look. Shouta sympathized, he really did, but even ocean's worth of sympathy wouldn't have been able to stop the slight snort that escaped him.

The boy shot him a look of betrayal.

He smirked. ' _Revenge is sweet.'_ "You'll have to get used to it," Shouta said smugly, "don't worry, it'll be better when you're in uniform."

The boy's eyes sharpened at that statement. "I'm not going to UA."

Refusal. Annoying, but not surprising. Shouta sighed. "You don't have to become a hero," he said tiredly, "just attend the school. You're welcome to join any other apartment." Eri had mentioned his distaste for most heroes.

"I have a job." The boy retorted.

"A job you shouldn't have." Aizawa shot back.

"I can't just quit," he protested.

Shouta narrowed his eyes. "You should have known, the moment you came to stay with me, that you would have to start obeying legal requirements, including the ones that said you needed to school."

The next sentence was said so quietly Shouta almost didn't hear it.

" _I didn't think you would care."_

Kaminari wouldn't look him in the eye.

Shouta wilted a bit at that. Right. This wasn't just some obnoxious teenager. This was a child who probably never been spared a lick of affection. He tried to ease up a bit. "The entrance exams are a while away, you still have time. Just...think about it. I won't ask for an answer now."

"...ok," was the reluctant answer.

Shouta sighed. "Ok."

An awkward silence, Shouta cleared his throat. "Why don't you go fetch Eri? She's with Midnight, I think she's getting a medical checkup soon."

"Ok."

Kaminari left.

* * *

Denki smirked as he walked through the corridors once more.

He felt a bit bad, manipulating Aizawa like that. But he needed time to go over his options and at that point Aizawa had felt so firm in his decision it had looked like he wasn't going to give it. Now Denki could think about it more thoroughly. He hadn't forgotten what Kurama said about being a hero, and as much as he hated the idea, he could see the logic. And besides, like Eraserhead said, there were other departments. He didn't have to become a hero.

School, it seemed, was inevitable for him. Aizawa, by law, was required to provide him with education and the hero was most certainly not homeschooling him. So school was a definite in his future, but it didn't have to be UA. UA was just convenient for Aizawa, there was always the option of going to a lesser known school, preferably one he could just skip most of the time. Aizawa would be annoyed, true, but as long as he was getting 'educated'...

"Nii-san!"

Denki smiled. "Eri-chan," he answered gently.

She hugged him. "It's like I haven't seen you in  _ages,_ " she whined.

He chuckled and patted her head. "Well, I'm here now."

"Aren't you two  _cute."_

Midnight smiled, licking her lips sensually.

"So this is Eri's mystery brother," she continued, "I must say, you weren't what I expected, reading such things in public, it was very  _daring_ of you." Her eyes glinted at that statement.

Denki eye-smiled back. "Happy to please."

Midnight studied him for a moment, and a subtle drowsy scent permeated the air.

Eri curled closer up to him and yawned. Kaminari himself only felt his eyes drop slightly, but under Midnight's probing eyes he let his shoulder drop and his guard go.

The hero's lip curled at the subservience shown.

' _Let them underestimate me for now_ ,' he thought.

"Well," Midnight clapped her hands together, smiling brightly, "I wouldn't want to hold you up for too long, you children best be going." The sleep-inducing aroma disappeared.

He turned to her, smiling fakely, "It was nice meeting you," he said in a sugary voice far to sweet for him.

She smiled back, oblivious to the irritation churning inside him. "Yes, yes it was."

They left.

* * *

Eri was scared.

Nii-san said they were going to a nurse and that she was going to do a checkup. But her blood was weird because of her Quirk. She didn't want the nurse to see her weird blood. The nurse would ask questions and then she'd stick needles in Eri and give her funny medicines that made her feel even more funny and it would hurt and it would-

"Eri-chan?" Nii-san glanced back at her, head tilted slightly, "we're here."

She looked at Nii-san. He was staring at her, clutching her hand in a way that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

' _I'll protect you, Eri-chan.'_

She clasped onto his hand tighter. "Let's go."

Nii-san loved her. She loved Nii-san. He would protect her.

* * *

Recovery Girl was gentle with Eri, much too Denki's relief. She talked and reassured her every step of the way. The women didn't bring up her scars or ask her any invasive questions. It should have gone fine.

Except it didn't.

Despite the nurse's soft soothing, Eri remained terrified. She flinched at every needle, clutched onto him at every word, and kept looking at Denki with those quivering red eyes.

Recovery Girl managed to complete the checkup regardless, but the results were apparently...quite strange.

"The composition of your blood is  _unheard_ of," the woman exclaimed, eyeing the results carefully, "I'll need to study it further but it's most certainly unique. What's your Quirk, dear?"

Ah. The dreaded question.

Eri, if it was possible, paled further. "It's...ah..uh...I don't…"

She hugged onto him tighter, and Recovery Girl grimaced. "That's fine, dear. You can tell us when you're ready. You're welcome to stay while I ask your brother some questions."

Ok. Good. Wait what?

The nurse turned to him. "What's your Quirk, young man?"

Ah. This.

"Electrification."

"And..?"

"It lets me discharge electricity."

"Your parents' Quirks?"

"I don't know."

"Any family medical history?"

"I don't know."

"Any personal medical history?"

"Nothing of note, I think."

"I see..."

Recovery girl finished scribbling notes and looked at him. "You don't seem to have any pressing issues," she lectured, "you've worn and torn your body quite a bit but it's nothing I can't fix. A slight case of malnutrition is there, but now that you are in the custody of Eraserhead I'm sure that it will pass. I'll give you some supplements anyway but otherwise, you're fine."

The nurse sighed and handed him a bottle of pills. "School is ending soon, you two might as well meet Eraserhead by the gate."

Denki nodded, standing up and lifting Eri close to his chest. "Thanks."

"No problem, dear."

* * *

"Aizawa-san." Denki called out.

The hero nodded at them as they exited the Gate.

He started walking ahead, motioning for them to follow. "We're going home."

' _Home,'_  Denki thought. "Of course." He piggybacked Eri as they walked to the hero's apartment. "Are you patrolling tonight?"

"No, why?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realize how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.


	7. Chapter 5

Aizawa was asleep. Denki was sure of it. He'd checked the man's pulse and breathing patterns, it was slow but steady. Which was good. The hero wasn't a light sleeper, but was alert enough to wake up if anything happened to happen to Eri. It was the perfect opportunity.

Denki crept out of the apartment in absolute silence. The streets of Musafasta were empty, most of its citizens had retired to bed. Under the glow of city street lights, Denki ran.

* * *

" _Hahahaha."_

Denki scowled as he paced around the Base. "It's not  _funny_ ," he complained.

Kurama only continued to cackle. "You. In a school.  _Ha._ I can't imagine it."

"I went to Academy, you know," Denki sulked.

"For a  _year_."

He pouted. "I still went."

Kurama snorted. "You peers were too dumb for you when you were  _five_. Imagine what it'll be like now your triple their mental age."

"Hell," Denki mourned.

"Exactly."

"I thought you wanted Kakashi to be a hero?" Gyuki asked curiously.

"I did," Kurama replied, " I just wanted him to get the licence, not go to the school."

"You can do that?" Saiken questioned.

"I believe so," Gyuki answered.

"I think he should kill them all, take the girl, and run. Problem solved."

"No one asked for your opinion, Shukaku."

"NO ONE ASKED YOURS, YOU STUPID FLAMING CAT!"

"SHUT UP!" Kurama yelled.

The room fell quiet.

"So," the fox turned to Kakashi. "What do you want to do? You could always ditch that hero and stay here, temporarily of course. Or you could go to that school."

"Well," Denki began, "I was thinking of going to another school, one not under the spotlight, and just skip most of the time."

"That's fine and all," Isobu interrupted, " but if you went to UA you would be able to keep an eye on that girl."

"And even if the school is under the spotlight more often, it's much safer." Kokuou reasoned.

"I don't need protection," Denki argued.

"But the girl?"

Denki fell into a contemplative silence.

"I still think he should kill them all."

"Oh shut up."

* * *

For the first time ever, Shouta woke up before he had to. It was a strange and tiring, but he couldn't get himself to fall back asleep. So he, grudgingly, got out of bed, forced himself to make a cup of coffee and got out some tests that needed to be marked. If he was awake he might as well do something productive.

' _I wonder if the brats are awake?'_  He wondered, they could be, he'd made quite a ruckus.

Sighing, Shouta got up from his spot on the couch and trudged his way down to the guest bedroom. Opening the door he lazily looked over the room. Eri was still curled up in a ball in the corner of the bed and Kaminari was-

' _Wait. Where's Kaminari?'_

Shouta scanned around the room more sharply.

' _crap crap crap crap cra-'_

"Yo."

Shouta swivelled around to see the half-masked face of his charge.

The boy tilted his face slightly, "I was in the bathroom," he said bluntly.

Shouta let out a sigh of relief. ' _Right. Of course. That makes more sense._

Kaminari hummed as he walked back into the room and Shouta eyed him carefully, catching one detail in particular. "You sound like you're out of breath," he accused.

Kaminari turned to stare at him in confusion. "Excuse me?"

Shouta narrowed his eyes at him. "You heard me, you're out of breath. What exactly were you doing?"

"Ah," the confusion in the boy's eyes disappeared, replaced with something akin to mirth, "Well, I  _am_  a teenage boy," he smirked, "you can't be  _that_ surprised?"

' _What did he mea-'_

' _Oh.'_

Shouta threw a shoe at him. "Get out."

Kaminari snickered as dodged the flying object. "You asked."

"Be quiet, brat."

* * *

After that entertaining encounter with Aizawa, Denki couldn't risk going out again. It was annoying, he still had to discuss his work hours with his boss. But no, the one time he needed to go out at night Aizawa chose to be an early bird. It wasn't even  _dawn_ yet.

He groaned. ' _Kaede-san is going to be pissed, '_ he lamented, before abruptly straightening. Wait. He could just leave anyway in the morning. He'd done it before. Aizawa would probably put two and two together and figure he'd be at something related to his job. Or maybe he could leave a message? Yes, that would work, Aizawa would understand. Hopefully.

* * *

Shouta could feel his left eyebrow twitching. Again.

Eri skipped towards him, standing on his toes with bits of toothpaste lining her lips. "Did Nii-san disappear again?"

"It appears so." Shouta sighed as he stared at the note, absentmindedly bending down and wiping the toothpaste from Eri's mouth.

...

_Yo, Aizawa. I won't be here for the day, take care of Eri for me._

_٩_ _(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)_ _۶ ٩_ _(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)_ _۶ ٩_ _(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)_ _۶ ٩_ _(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)_ _۶ ٩_ _(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)_ _۶_

_Cheers, Blonde-brat._

_..._

' _At least he left a note this time.'_ It meant that he cared enough about Shouta to inform him. Which was nice.

"When will Nii-san come back?" Eri questioned, swinging around his legs, toothpaste-free, "Will he disappear again?"

Shouta exhaled as he picked her up and placed her on his hip. "I don't know."

"Oh." She tucked her head into his shoulder,

Shouta could almost feel himself wilting at the despondent look on the girl's face. "Let's get to school, you can have tea with the Principal."

Eri brightened at that. "Let's go!"

Shouta smiled. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

"So you're quitting?"

Denki pouted, finally climbing out of the rickety window he sitting on. "Not quite. Why? Are you that desperate to get rid of me? I'm hurt."

Kaede scoffed at Denki. "Don't press your luck, kid."

Denki laughed before letting his exaggerated expression fade, he leaned his head on his face. "I'll work at night and on the weekends, so you'll have to babysit Eri again."

She looked at him doubtfully. "Isn't that a bit too much? You'll be busy with school, especially if you're going to one as tough as UA."

Denki smirked at her. "I must be going deaf. For a minute there I thought the oh-so-great-Kaede-san was showing concern for the poor, lowly, me."

She frowned, apparently ignoring his remark. "You're going to be hanging with heroes," she said in a semi-concerned voice, "why risk it on an illegal job?"

"It's only Gen-Ed," Denki pointed out, "besides this job's not technically illegal."

Her frown deepened. "It might as well be, you've been messing with a dangerous crowd."

"I knew that when I started this job."

"But working at night is the riskiest time."

"I can handle it."

The woman sighed. "Fine, but take care of yourself, I don't want a dead body at my doorstep."

Denki gave her a closed eye-smile. "Of course."

She scoffed. "Sure, now get back to work."

"Right away, Madam."

* * *

"Is Nii-san back yet?"

"No."

"..."

"Is Nii-san back yet?"

"No."

"..."

"Is Nii-san back yet?"

"No."

"..."

"Is Nii-san back yet?"

"No."

"..."

"Is Nii-san back ye-"

" _Eri_ ," Shouta said between clenched teeth, "we  _just_ got back from school. There's  _plenty_  of time left."

"Oook," She whined.

A knock on the door.

"...yo," came a dry greeting.

Shouta let the tension in his shoulders fade.

"NII-SAN!" Eri flung herself at the teen, who caught her easily with one arm and ruffled her hair affectionately.

Kaminari smiled at her. "I'm back."

Shouta arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't suppose you'd like to tell us where you've been?"

Kaminari gave what Shouta now called his  _I'm-so-full-of-shit_ smile. "At work, of course."

That...might be true. But that didn't make Shouta any less annoyed. "When we were supposed to be getting your enrollment sorted?" He asked dryly.

"I haven't exactly agreed to go to UA," the boy pointed out, walking towards the empty couch while carrying Eri.

Shouta himself made his way over to his desk. "I would have forced you either way," he said bluntly.

"...so mean." Kaminari pouted at him.

Shouta raised an eyebrow at him, getting out some unmarked tests."I didn't come this far by being nice."

"What happened to," Kaminari's voice turned mocking, "' _you still have time, just think about'_."

Shouta smirked, grabbing a red pen. "You've been such a little shit lately that I've decided to take back that statement."

Eri gasped. " _Aizawa-san! You swore!"_

Shouta froze. ' _Damn it, I forgot she was here.'_

Kaminari, being the little shit he was, cottoned on right away. "Yeah Aizawa _-san,_ " the boy gave him a cat-like grin, "I can't believe  _you_ , a teacher  _and_ hero, would use such  _foul_ language _._ "

' _That. Petty. Hypocritical. Little. Shit.'_

"Fine," Shouta gritted out, "I'm  _sorry."_

"Aizawa-san," Eri looked at him disapprovingly, "you have to be more sincere than that."

"Yeah," Kaminari chimed in, "or you'll have to put a dollar in the swear jar."

Shouta eyed them cautiously. "...we don't have a swear jar."

Eri jumped out of Kaminaris' arms and skipped to the kitchen, grabbing an empty jar and permanent marker. The girl brought the objects to Kaminari and held them out to him expectantly. Of course, being the insufferable brat he was, Kaminari caught on immediately and took the marker and wrote in incredibly sloppy handwriting  _Swear Jar_ on the container.

"Now we do!" Eri beamed in an all too satisfied way.

Shouta could only sigh. Again.

* * *

"So you're coming?" Shouta confirmed again. It was late at night - he needed to make sure he wasn't just hearing things.

"Yes," Kaminari affirmed, setting himself down on the opposite of Shouta on the couch.

"That's...good. I thought it would be harder than this." Shouta admitted, absentmindedly tying up his hair.

"I'm only applying for General Education," Kaminari warned, eyes still following his movement.

Shota smiled slightly. "But at least you're coming."

Kaminari glanced at him apprehensively, "...you're not going to be teaching me, right?"

Shouta laughed, a content sort of feeling returning to him. "As nice as it of been, I teach the hero wannabes."

Kaminari smiled. "I feel sorry for them."

He grinned smugly, "I'm sure they're sorry enough for themselves."

Kaminari sighed and laid on the couch peacefully.

Shouta let his lips twitch upwards at the boy's peaceful face. Rarely ever did the boy look so relaxed, especially in the absence of Eri. It was nice, just bantering like this. Despite the boy's youth Shouta seemed to unconsciously regard him differently to his students. There always that knowing glint in the boys eye. Mature. It wasn't a word you would úse to describe Kaminari at first glance, but even underneath all the ridiculousness that sprouted out of his mouth, it was still there. The Principal had seen it, even went as far as to call him dangerous for it. Not necessarily to the heroes, he had said, but dangerous all the same. Kaminari was an unknown. An unknown with potential.

Kaminari flickered one eye open. "What are you brooding about?"

"Be quiet."

* * *

"Again?"

"You'll have to got to UA every day next year." Aizawa snapped, glaring at him from the door frame, "get dressed.

"But it's sooo boring," Denki groaned.

" _Nii-san,_ " Eri chastised.

Denki sulked. ' _Why do I have to keep going to that stupid school? I bet it's just 'cause they want to keep an eye on me. Stupid, suspicious, heroes. '_

_**`You can't really talk, Shinobi are way worse.'** _

' _...shut up.'_

' _ **Sometimes, I feel like you've gotten much more childish and immature since coming here.'**_

'… _hmph.'_

"Oi brat, hurry up."

Denki sighed. "Coming," he droned.

Chucking on a random T-shirt, he turned to exit the room but was stopped by a small hand grabbing his shirt. He swiveled around, "Eri-chan?" He asked, crouching down to look at her eye-to-eye.

The girl twiddled her fingers nervously, resolutely looking away. "I-I was thinking," she stuttered, "of...maybe...telling them about my...Quirk."

Denki gently turned her face towards his, staring straight into her eyes. "Ok," he said reassuringly, "if you're sure. Do you want to tell Aizawa-san first? Tell it to someone you trust so he can sort it out with the heroes."

"Will he tell everybody?"

"Just those who need to know."

"I-I...ok."

Denki held her hand firmly. "You only need to tell him a little bit," he assured, "I can sort out the rest.

Eri gave him a shaky nod. "O-Ok."

Denki smiled back. "Ok."

* * *

Shouta knew he had the right to feel extremely suspicious. Both brats were quiet. Quiet, as in not jumping around, making snide remarks or being an all-around pain. They were  _quiet._

"Aizawa, can we talk to you for a second?" Teen brat asked, twiddling his thumbs by the door.

Shouta raised his eyebrows. "School starts soon."

"It's important." The blond brat pressed.

Shouta sighed. "Fine," he gave in.

The boy gently pushed Eri forward. "It's...my..Quirk," she said quietly.

_Oh_

"It's called...Rewind. It lets me turn something back to its previous state.

_Shit_

* * *

Shouta had dumped Eri with Hizashi and dragged Kaminari with him to the Principal.

" _Principal!"_

The rodent raised a non-existent eyebrow at the almost harried look on Shouta's face. "What's the problem?" He asked.

Shouta thrust Kaminari in front of him.

"Ah, well," Kaminari began, "Eri-chan has a rather  _special_ Quirk that lets his 'rewind' living thing back to their original state. "

The Principal paused, expression unchanged but paws twitching slightly. "You... didn't think to tell us this earlier?"

Kaminari only shrugged, as if to say ' _my hands were tied',_  "We're telling you now."

The Principal sighed, setting down his teacup and bringing a set of files. He let them spill onto the desk. "Recently," he explained, "young girls of similar ages and appearances to Eri have been disappearing and returning within a couple days. None of them have been harmed, so the issue has remained relatively unknown. We figured they may be looking for someone and given this new piece of information I'm sure we can guess who and why," he exhaled, "I don't suppose you have any more knowledge on this?"

Kaminari looked at the Principal blankly. "Eri hasn't told me anything about her previous captors," he said bluntly/

The Principal pressed on. "But do  _you_ know anything?"

"No."

Shouta narrowed his eyes at the boy. "You must have picked up  _something_ ," he insisted.

Kaminari shrugged. "I didn't want to pressure her."

Shouta clenched his teeth. ' _He's lying. I'm sure of it. He's way too perceptive to not pick up on anything.'_

"Ah, wait."

Both heroes turned to him.

Kaminari rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Eri  _might_ have mentioned something about her family."

"Her family?" Shouta asked.

The boy nodded. "She said she was in the custody of her grandfather."

The Principal studied him intently. "Anything else?"

"No."

The creature sighed. "Then you may leave."

Kaminari hummed as he vacated the room. Shouta sighed. "How troublesome," he groaned.

"How clever."

Shouta turned to the Principal, "What?" He asked.

"It's just a hunch," the rodent continued, "but I believe Kaminari knows more than he lets on. What he told us was almost useless, we know next to nothing about the girl, how are we supposed to find her family?"

"But why?"

"I don't know."

* * *

"Right. Let us discuss the plan." Kurama announced

"What plan is this again?" Kokou questioned.

"The one to get rid of The League of Villains and that Yakuza gang. Can't you remember anything?" Shukaku scorned.

"Hey," Kokou defended, "I thought that plan had already commenced. Weren't we already returning those little female humans."

"We were and still are," Gyuuki reassured, "but we must take a more...aggressive stance."

"Hopefully Kakashi is preventing those un _lucky_ heroes from meddling," muttered Chomei.

"I'm sure he is," Matatabi reassured.

" _Anyway,"_ Kurama interrupted, "as I'm sure you  _all_ remember, the first step is to target what these silly humans value most."

"What?" Sanbi asked.

Kurama grinned. " _Money."_

* * *

"Hey, Kurogiri."

"Yes, Tomura?"

"Didn't we have a lot of bribery cash stored here?"

"Yes."

"It's all gone."

"... _what."_

* * *

"B-BOSS!"

" _Yes."_

" _T-THE M-MONEY WE STOLE! I-IT'S GON-!"_

_*bang*_

"It appears our enemy has become bolder Shin."

"I'm afraid so."

* _sigh*_ "What a shame, I was hoping to recruit them. Now we'll have to kill them."

"What a shame indeed."

* * *

"Well, it certainly explains a lot."

Nedzu turned to Recovery Girl. They were sitting in her office "What do you mean?" He asked.

She sighed, flicking through some medical papers and pulling out one to show the Principal. "Her blood composition was extremely unique," she explained, "enough so for me to believe it was meddled with by external factors."

The rodent went quiet for a minute, staring at the document. "...human experimentation." He eventually replied.

The woman looked at the Principal sympathetically. "Hits a little too close to home, huh."

The Principal sighed, bringing a paw to his temple. "It does."

"What are you going to do?" She asked, returning the papers back to her desk.

Nedzu hummed, tapping his paw on her desk. "Arrange some extra protection, though she's probably safest with Eraserhead, her and everybody."

"What a mess," she sighed.

"What a mess indeed," he agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 1: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realize how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.


	8. Chapter 6

* * *

 

Eri had told the heroes about her Quirk. Her cursed, destructive, Quirk. And nothing had changed.

Well, Aizawa-san seemed to watch her more, as well as the other heroes. But they didn't treat her any differently, they still smiled at her, waved at her in the hallways, called her adorable and hugged her. It made her happy.

Aizawa-san also said he would help her with her Quirk. Apparently, his Quirk could make other Quirks go away so he could stop her Quirk if anything went wrong.

Everything was fine. Everything was ok. Just like Nii-san said.

* * *

Shouta was more exhausted than usual when he got home. The revelation of Eri's Quirk had been an unwelcome surprise. A remarkably powerful Quirk in the hands of a 5-year-old who had no clue how to control it. Great.

Said 5-year-old had also been squirrelled of by another brat right after school had ended. Where ,Shouta had no clue. Which, considering the danger the girl was in, was not a good sign at all. Though he couldn't fault the brat too much, Shouta himself had to go on hero-patrol soon. The brat had probably been reluctant to leave the girl alone while he went off and did his 'job', which was fair enough.

It didn't make him any less annoyed.

* * *

The rickety house stood isolated amongst the furbished streets of Musutufu.

Carefully adjusting the sleeping girl in his arms, Denki slipped through the window. "Kaede-san?" He called out.

The woman glanced up from her cigarette to glare at him, then at the open window, in irritation. "What do you want?" She grumbled.

Denki motioned to the weight in his arms and gently nudged Eri awake. "We're here now," he whispered.

Eri yawned, slowly clambering out his arms and onto the couch next to Kaede-san.

The woman huffed at him. "Right."

Denki stared at her intently. "Keep her safe."

Kaede sighed and clapped her hands twice, a cloud of smoke loosely enclosed the room. "Happy?" She asked sarcastically.

A nod.

She turned back to her cigarette. "Then get lost...and don't choke on your way out." She made a shooing motion with her hand.

Denki gave the woman a salute. "Of course, Madam."

* * *

"Do you think Kakashi will come today?"

Kurama sighed. "Perhaps Isobu, perhaps."

"Are we going to tell him? About  _that_?"

"...I don't know."

* * *

Denki had finally delivered his last package, a box of dubiously legal medicine, to his last client. It was midnight, and he could finally fetch Eri.

' _ **What about talking to the Biju?'**_

...right, there was that.

Denki sighed. ' _Never mind next stop, The Biju Base.'_

* * *

" _Ah-hem."_

Denki and the rest of the Biju turned the fox. "Since we are all here, I think we should discuss the  _plan."_

Denki stood up. "Actually, about that, I wanted to ask you guys something."

Kurama glanced towards him with interest. "What?"

"I want you guys to avoid direct confrontation with the League of Villains." Before they could start protesting Denki continued. "I have no issue with the Eight Precepts of Death, but the League of Villains are an organization that has proven to be powerful. Even if you guys are stronger individually, the fact remains you're not even close to your full strength, and these people have the equivalent of their own Kekkei Genkai. The Eight Precepts of Death are smaller in number and rely on their Quirk-Suppressing Bullets. The League of Villains is run by a man with centuries of experience and are much larger in number. Discrete confrontation is fine but direct must and should be avoided."

Silence.

And then Kurama laughed. A maniacal, bitter laugh.

Amongst the hysterics, Gyuki spoke out. "We should tell him," he said.

Denki arched his eyebrows. ' _Tell me what?'_ He wondered.

The fox's laughter died down and he fell silent.

Unexpectedly, Shukaku spoke next. "We cannot recover our chakra here," he explained, "we don't know why but we just can't. As beings literally made of chakra, once we eventually run out, we will cease to exist in this dimension."

' _What?'_

"So," Saiken continued, "the more we use jutsu, the shorter our lifespan will be. We were planning on avoiding direct confrontation anyway."

"Nothing will happen to you," Matatabi assured, "since you are completely human and any residual chakra that may have come with you would have simply mutated with your Quirk."

"And it's not like we'll actually die," Kokou pointed out, "we'll simply rejoin our larger conscious back home."

"How long do you have?" Denki asked quietly.

"...a year? Maybe more if we try to avoid jutsu use." Kurama answered hesitantly.

Denki clenched his fists. ' _But you won't try, will you. Why spend a year sitting on your tail when you could do so much more.'_ "How long have you known?" He asked instead.

"A while," Chomei replied, "but we didn't think you would…"  _care._

He sighed. ' _Of course, they would assume that.'_ "Is that why my little speech was such a surprise?" Denki asked.

Shukaku snorted. "Humans aren't exactly known for their kindness, why we would expect one to lecture us about 'taking care of ourselves'."

" _Shukaku."_ Matatabi hissed.

" _What_? I'm not wrong."

"You still shouldn't be saying such insensitive things."

"You got a problem with me,  _cat_."

"As a matter of fact, I  _do_."

" _Why you…"_

Denki tuned out the rest of the argument. ' _Hah. I should have known,"_  he thought bitterly, ' _my luck couldn't be that good. Of course, they'd leave eventually.'_ "Anyway," Denki stood up, "regardless, I'm standing by what I said. We can meet again tomorrow, I'll see you then."

"Kakashi-" Kurama began.

"Goodbye."

Denki left.

* * *

Denki picked up Eri from the apartment swiftly, without disturbing the girl from her sleep. The trip back to the apartment was no sweat either, Aizawa hadn't even finished his patrol yet.

So he had time to ponder.

' _They're going to leave.'_

' _ **You have no right to stop them, unlike you, they have a home to return too.'**_

' _I know.'_

' _ **Then why sulk? You're a Shinobi and Hokage, you should be used to loss.'**_

' _I know.'_

' _ **It's not like they're actually dying.'**_

' _I know.'_

' _ **You're better off alone anyway.'**_

' _...I know.'_

Denki sighed.

' _ **Just go to sleep, you can pout about it in the morning.'**_

' _Yeah.'_

Denki went to sleep.

And if he dreamed of wayward students and bleeding chests, well, who could blame him?

* * *

Kaminari was...off, in the morning, in Shouta's opinion. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with him, the boy was just as snarky as usual, but he seemed...sad?

' _Damn it,'_  he groaned, ' _I suck at this emotional business.'_

* * *

School was...ok. All Denki really did was chill out in the staffroom. Technically, he was supposed to be 'preparing for the Entrance Exam' but he ended up just brainstorming about his Quirk.

" _-any residual chakra that may have come with you would have simply mutated with your Quirk."_

It explained a lot. His Quirk could be applied differently than the old  _Denki_ remembered.

For one,  _Denki_ couldn't 'control' the electricity,  _he_  could only manipulate the output. Denki could, not only that he could use it internally so it could be applied like a speed boost. Though he couldn't be too sure about that,  _Denki_ didn't seem to enjoy experimenting with  _his_ Quirk, especially since  _he_ accidentally shocked  _his_ parents into a vegetative state leaving  _himself_ orphaned.

For someone in this world,  _Denki_  had a pretty rough life.

"Brat, you better be reviewing Japanese History right now." Aizawa was glaring at him as soon as he walked into the staffroom.

Denki shoved the notebook into his pants and grabbed a textbook.

Aizawa stared at him, unimpressed. "It's upside down," he said dryly.

Denki smiled at him, the phony bullshit one. "Reading history upside down helps me remember it better."

"Right." Aizawa didn't sound impressed.

"I'm  _serious._  Look," he put the book down, closing his eyes and reciting, "' _Japanese were the victim of a nuclear bombing in the-'_

Aizawa cut him off. "I know for a  _fact_ that that material is not covered in that book."

Another phony smile. "It just proves how great my memory is."

Aizawa stared at him, seemingly exasperated."...you know what, never mind," he sighed, "anyway, I came here to tell you that Eri's getting a tutor."

' _Well.'_ Kaminari mused, ' _I guess they can't exactly send her to elementary because of her Quirk.'_ "Who?" He asked.

"Me."

Right. That made sense, Aizawa could remove people's Quirks. He wondered if he should tell her about Eri's past experience with her father.

' _Nahh.'_ Denki sighed dramatically, "I feel sorry for her."

Shouta glared at him. "I'm not going to  _bully_ a five-year-old."

He continued to lament. "That  _poor_ child."

"...I resent that."

* * *

' _To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."- J.K Rowling_

It was a good quote, in Denki's opinion, and in this case quite literal. After all, the Biju weren't exactly dying, just leaving him. Forever.

Denki vigorously shook his head. ' _No bad thoughts. No bad thoughts. I can't be sullen when we meet.'_ He made his way into the base easily enough, once there he got a few cautious looks from some of the Biju, but otherwise, nobody made any mention of last night's discussion.

"So," Kurama began, "in alignment to Kakashi's previous statement, we will avoid direct contact with  _both_ groups. At this point, we're to focus on taking hold of their resources. For that Yakuza group, it should be easy, they don't have many and any they do is relied on heavily. The villain group, well, they're what these humans would call 'loaded'."

"Have they initiated any retaliation?" Denki asked.

Kurama nodded. "The Villains have attempted to trap both Shukaku and Matatabi while they were burning down their base," he explained.

"You burnt down their base?" Denki asked in surprise.

"We didn't  _just_ burn it," Matabi bragged, "we  _demolished_  it. You should have seen the news, it was  _beautiful_."

"Wouldn't have been better to collect the data they kept in their base and hold some of their member's hostage for information?" Denki pointed out. "Why burn it, they can just relocate now."

"Hah," Shukaku scoffed, "unlike you  _humans,_ we take a more straightforward approach to things," he paused, "though, if it makes you feel any better, we released those humans they were experimenting on, the ones who were still somewhat sane that is."

Denki straightened at that. "Experiments?"

"They're bioengineering human weapons," Son Goku explained, "I believe, by forcing multiple Quirks into one person. Said person will lose any sort of intelligence, essentially becoming a puppet."

"So what are you guys going to do about them?" Denki questioned.

"Kill them."

Denki frowned at Shukaku's answer. "I thought we were avoiding direct contact?"

Shukaku grinned. "It isn't direct if you kill them when they're alone."

"...but they're experiments, they won't be alone."

"Then I'll just kill the people guarding them."

"That's stepping within the bounds of 'direct contact' rather than 'discrete contact'."

"Well, I'll just kill-"

" _Anyway,"_ Saiken interjected, "that's everything from our end. How's the preparation for the Entrance Exam going?"

Denki blinked at the change of topic. "Fine."

Son Goku grunted. "I think this whole 'exam' is quite pointless, I took the liberty of looking over your curriculum, and I must say, the amount of memorization required is ridiculous."

Denki tapped his head smugly. "It makes Photographic Memory even more useful."

"You still have that?" Kokuo asked

Denki grinned. "Yup."

"Aren't you a  _lucky_  bastard." Chomei sniggered.

Kurama smirked. "Those teachers won't know what know hit them."

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense."

"It makes plenty of sense."

Shouta glared at Kaminari. "I  _know_ you, and there is  _no_ way  _you_  could get," he slapped the test on to the table, " _24_ out of  _100._ "

Kaminari simply smiled his  _I-don't-give-a-shit_ grin. "What can I say? I didn't go to school for almost 10 years, I'm surprised I even got  _some_ right."

Shouta opened his mouth to protest but closed it. ' _He's right,'_ Shouta grimaced in realization, ' _even if I say he can do better, the fact remains that he has the perfect excuse not too.'_

Shouta scowled. "Fine then," he said mirthfully,"you're going to sit here and do  _all_ these papers  _until_ you're able to get them  _all_ right." He brought out a stack of sheets.

" _What!_ No fair." Denki complained, "this is  _bias_ , you can't do that."

Shouta smirked at the boy. "No, it's not, if you're so behind in your schooling then it's only rationale that you work harder to catch up." ' _If you want to play dumb, then I'll just make being dumb harder.'_

Kaminari pouted. "Meanie," he complained.

Shouta stood up. "Get to it, I'm going to go check up on Eri."

"Fiiiiiine."

* * *

"Here." Kurama chucked a small box at Denki from the couch he was lounging on, who caught it in surprise.

"What's this?" He asked, eyeing the box curiously.

" Temporary Quirk-suppressing bullets, made using that little girl's Quirk," Gyuki answered, absentmindedly flicking through Ocean Magazines.

"They are only prototypes, they have not and will not be perfected." Son Goku added, the monkey himself juggling dumbells in his hands.

Denki opened the box and studied the bullets. "Are you going to use these?" He asked.

"Nah," Shukaku scoffed, blowing bits of sands around the room, "we don't need some stupid human weapon."

"So I can keep them?"

"That's why we gave them to you," Matatabi reminded, curling herself up at the corner of the couch.

Denki slipped the box into his pocket. "Do the Yakuza still have more?"

"A couple maybe," Chomei answered, flipping through a book of horoscopes,"but we ruined most of their stock and they're unable to produce anymore so they can't exactly use them lavishly."

"Well, you guys have been busy," Denki commented.

Kurama sighed. "Well, the plan is to destroy both groups before we…"  _leave._

"Right."

_Right._

* * *

So this routine continued for months, the Biju slowly ruined The League of Villains and the Eight Precepts of Hell from the inside, Denki continued training, Eri kept learning, and Shouta managed to get even more annoyed at the both of them. Until finally, The Entrance Exam.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you haven't noticed, I changed/edited my story it again, for the second time. I'll be doing this to all chapters. I guess the more I write, the better at writing I get, and the more I realize how crappy some of my chapters were. Nothing plot wise has changed.


	9. Chapter 6a

* * *

 

This was it. This was Akari's moment to finally shine, to finally prove that she  _could_ pass, even if her Quirk wasn't suited to the exam at all.  _She was-_

An announcement rang through the school, ' _The UA Hero Entrance Exam will begin in 2 minutes.'_

-GOING TO BE LATE.

* * *

Denki was confused. Really, really, really confused.

Because he was  _sure_ he had applied for General Education, he had double checked the papers and everything. But no, somehow, Aizawa had dragged him into the UA Hero Practical Exam which shouldn't be right because  _he didn't want to be a hero goddamnit._

So, really, the only way someone could have changed his application form was if someone really high up approved, and by high up he meant the Principal.

' _Great,'_ he sighed, ' _this is just great.'_ To be honest, Denki couldn't really say he was surprised. The Principal had been picking on him ever since he had come to this stupid school. Probably because, unlike everybody else, the Principal saw him as a potential danger. Which was annoying.

But Denki had made sure to score reasonably high in the written exam. So he could still flunk the practical without failing to get into General Education. And since the staff had never seen him in combat they should have no reason to believe he was any better then he chose to portray himself. So, really everything was fine he just to act like an uncoordinated, but not too uncoordinated, idiot and-

"I'M NOT LATE!"

Denki turned to the Naruto-esque shout of joy and saw-

- _Rin_

"TAKE THAT SUCKERS, I'M GONNA PASS THIS FREAKIN EXAM!"

Denki shook his head. ' _No. Not Rin.'_  At first glance, the girl certainly resembled Rin, but there was a certain...hardness to her that Rin never had.

But he couldn't stop himself from making his way down to the girl, standing right behind her. "You're making a ruckus," he said, eyebrow raised.

The girl turned to him, an obnoxious smirk resting on her face. "Do I  _look like_ I care?" She snarked.

"Ah," Denki smiled, a fake one, "so you're one of  _those_  girls."

She bristled and grabbed his shoulders. "Listen here  _buddy,_ I don't like what you're insinuating here, you better-"

"FIGHTING IS PROHIBITED BEFORE THE EXAM. PLEASE STOP, YOU ARE DISTURBING OTHER PARTICIPANTS."

Both the girl and Denki turned to the glasses-wearing boy who intervened.

' _Ah, '_ Denki thought. ' _It's a mini-Ingenium. I wonder if they're related.'_

The girl scoffed at the newcomer. "Whatever, I don't have time for you anyway."

She stalked off, and the boy's attention turned to him. "I understand you were not the one to initiate the fight," he told him, glasses glinting disapprovingly, "but please control yourself, we are here to have the chance to study at a prestigious school so your behaviour is very distasteful."

And with that, the boy walked off.

Denki blinked in surprise. ' _Well. That was interesting.'_

* * *

Shouta glared at the holographic screen, before glancing at the Principal. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked again, "he didn't even apply for the Hero Course."

The Principal simply sipped his tea. "Of course," he replied, "I've prepared a  _special_ set of robots for Kaminari, this can give let us gauge his strength."

"But Principal," a skeletal man protested, "that isn't fair."

The Principal only laughed. "Don't worry, there are plenty of robots left for the rest of the examinees."

Shouta could only sweat-drop as the Principal continued to cackle.

' _Good luck, kid,'_  he sighed, ' _you'll probably need it.'_

* * *

Denki could feel his right eye twitching.

This exam was rigged. He was sure it. There was  _no_ way that many robots could be targeting him at random, and they were all  _way_ more powerful than the rest. If this wasn't bias then he didn't know what was.

Even with the extra challenge, though, Denki still managed to deceptively evade most robots without destroying them, he did eliminate a couple, though, to keep up appearances of course.

In the meantime, he took it upon himself to observe the examinees. They weren't too bad for some untrained brats, though not many seemed to display many hero-like qualities.

Hmm. Hero Qualities. In a Hero Exam.

' _Look underneath the underneath.'_

' _Don't tell me…'_ Denki overheard a conversation a couple hundred metres away from him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Ye-yeah, I-I'm fine. You don't need to help me, you should focus on the exam."

"A hero shouldn't leave people in need.."

Denki froze. ' _Crap. CrapCrapCrapCrap-'_

' _Wait,'_ he paused, ' _I've been isolated from everyone this whole exam. There's no way I could have gotten any extra credit for being heroey.'_ Right. So all he had to do was stay away from everyone and not let his Inner-Naruto loose which should be easy seeing as-

"AH! WATCH OUT. IT'S THE ZERO POINTER."

' _Ah, crap.'_

* * *

Akari was in what most would call a shitty situation.

She had zero points. Zero.  _Zero._

Which was not good. Not good at all. Because she had promised to pass, sworn to pass. Because if she didn't she would be a failure. Useless. A waste of space. A good-for-nothing piece of-

"IT'S A ZERO POINTER. RUN!"

' _Ah, crap.'_

* * *

In all honesty, Denki could have taken the Zero Pointer down easily. All he really had to do was give the robot a good shock and the thing was a goner.

Of course, destroying the robot would probably mean unintentionally 'saving' a bunch of people, which would guarantee his chances of getting into the Hero Course. Not what he wanted.

So Denki couldn't destroy the robot, and he couldn't run from it either, since all his exits were blocked and making a path out would mean giving all the other examinees a way out.

' _Maybe I could climb my way out of the rubble…'_

The Zero Pointer was a couple metres away from him at this point. Oh, wait, its arm was coming towards him. Maybe it was trying to punch him? Maybe it was-

An arm grabbed him by the waist just as the robot made contact with his right arm.

' _Ouch,'_ he winced, ' _I wonder if it's broken…it hurts quite a bit,'_

"You IDIOT, what were you doing just standing around there. You could have been freakin KILLED."

Denki turned to the person carrying him. It was the girl from before.

She continued to rant. "I can't believe I'm wasting my time on  _you_ , I haven't even got  _a point_ and here I am wasting my time, saving  _idiots_ who don't know how to run. What the hell am I even doing, this is so stupid, I frickin hate this, who the hell puts-"

Denki tuned out the rest of her rant and studied her instead. She was definitely athletic, the girl had yet to slow down from her fast pace despite carrying him as well. On top of that, she was injured, judging by the red stains covered her sleeves. Despite all this, however, she complained about not having a single point. Perhaps her Quirk wasn't combat oriented? This exam did seem to favour flashier Quirks.

' _Huh,'_ he wriggled his right arm, 'm _y arm doesn't hurt as much anymore.'_

"WE'RE HERE," the girl announced, coming to a stop at a relatively empty clearing. She not-so-gently dumped him on the ground, ripping of his mask and proceeding to... _kiss him?_

After a couple of seconds, the girl broke away from him.

' _All my injuries,'_ Denki realized, clenching and unclenching his fist, ' _they're healed. I don't even feel tired.'_

The girl smirked at his confused face and held out her hand to him. "Akari. Sasagawa Akari."

Denki grabbed onto her outstretched arm. "Denki. Kaminari Denki."

* * *

"You failed." Shouta stared at him, unamused. They were sitting in the lounge, and Eri was asleep. "You did that on purpose, didn't you."

"And you purposefully put me in the Hero Exams, even though I didn't apply for it." Kaminari accused.

Shouta shrugged. "If it helps, it wasn't my idea."

Kaminari scoffed. "Of course it wasn't, but you still let it happen."

"..."

Kaminari snorted. "No excuse, huh."

"Anyway," Shouta glared at him, "you got top scores in you're written exam. What happened to Mr  _I-missed-out-on-almost-ten-years-of-education_."

"He got bored and decided to go on vacation."

For at least half a second, Shouta felt like punching the boy. He refrained, of course, instead offering Kaminari a dry congratulation. "Whatever," he sighed, "good job on your admission into UA."

* * *

"I don't get it, why make yourself seem stupid around that hero but get top marks in the exam."

Kakashi smirked at the fox. "They know I'm smart. Making myself seem dumb will only make them even more suspicious."

"Then what about that hero?"

"I was just messing with him. And I couldn't be bothered."

The fox scoffed. "Typical."

Kakashi smiled slightly, before sighing. "Any updates on the that Yakuza and Villain group.

The fox frowned. "The Yakuza group has been quiet, but the villains, well, they're up to something. What that is, we don't know."

Kakashi sighed again, covering his entire face with that stupid orange book of his.

Kurama grimaced. ' _I feel you kit, I really do.'_

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im splitting some chaps


	10. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> idjfk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the amazing and awesome winterblade, who made some really cool art  
> inspired by this story.
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH.
> 
> EDIT: The links won't work for me so here they are.
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterblade  
> https://twitter.com/w1nterblade/status/1109716011245133830

"Nii-san, you look  _handsome_."

Eri grinned at him from her perch on top of the dressing table.

"I look like an idiot," Kaminari grumbled, fiddling with his uniform and glancing back and forth between the mirror.

Aizawa snorted, catching a glance of the boy from the doorway, "you look like a decent human being."

Kaminari shot him a dirty look."Like you can talk."

Eri kicked his legs chastising. "Don't fight!" She scolded, "it's not nice."

Kaminari pouted at Eri, before shooting a sulky glance at Aizawa. "Yeah Aizawa _-san_ ," he said mirthfully, "don't  _fight."_

Aizawa just sighed, finally moving away from the door frame. "...brats," he muttered.

* * *

School. Hitoshi hated it. The first day was always the worst. Every year it was the same, friendly smiles twisted into suspicious sneers. It always started with one person. The one person who knew, who spread  _it_  around the classroom like a viral disease. And, by the end of the day, he would be alone. Again. Forever.

' _What a perfect Quirk for a_ villain _.'_ _ **They**_  whispered **.**

Brainwashing. A Quirk groomed for a villain. But Hitoshi wouldn't let it loose. He would fight every bad thought tooth and nail. The desire, the desperation, that ' _what if I just…'_

Hitoshi wouldn't be a villain. He would be a hero.

And with that resounding thought, he stepped through the gates into the most prestigious hero school in Japan.

' _Welcome to UA High School.'_

* * *

Denki had only needed to observe his class for about a minute to come to the conclusion he was in for a long year. It wasn't that Denki hated his class - he didn't care enough to hold such a strong emotion. They were just...childish.

1-C was, simply put, a bunch of naive, bitter, brats. Salty and ungrateful to the many joys they were gifted with. Most of them were delusioned with dreams of heroes and were sulking at their subsequent failure. He could already imagine their petty little thoughts, ' _if only my Quirk had been stronger…'_ or ' _if only I had a different Quirk…'_

Quirks. Everything here  _always_  came down to Quirks, your whole future was practically decided by a shift in genetics. It was sad, really. Even the Shinobi world hadn't been  _that_ dependant on chakra.

" _Student~s_ , settle down now," Midnight grinned at them, snapping her whip on her desk, "class is beginning."

Denki stared boredly at the teacher, ignoring the excited whispers that raced through the classroom.

' _Midnight, huh,'_ he mused, eyeing the hero's outfit in appreciation, ' _...interesting choice.'_

Midnight smirked at the class, sultrily leaning on the front desk, showing of her...assets. "As some of you may know," the teacher purred, "my name is Midnight, and as well as teaching the Hero Course Modern Hero Literature, I will also be your Homeroom Teacher. You may refer to me as Kayama-sensei," she paused. "Now, I  _am_  aware that most of you aren't here out of choice, you're here on the chance to make it through to the  _Hero Course._

At this, the excited whispers heightened.

* _snap*_

Midnight put away her whip with a smirk, returning to her original position on the desk. "Let's not get  _too_ excited, shall we," she licked her lips sensually, eyeing every individual student before stopping at Denki, "very few manage to make the transfer, and any who do will be at least a year behind in training."

There was disgruntled muttering at that.

"Which is why," the hero continued, "we provide  _some_  similar classes to the Hero Course. They're not as intensive, but even if you don't find yourself on the path of the hero, I'm sure you'll still find them useful."

Midnight grinned at them all once more. "And now that's over, let's head off to the Entrance Ceremony."

* * *

Shouta was grudgingly impressed with his class. They all had potential, perhaps some more than others but it was still there.

Midoriya had the heart of a hero and, if he managed to get it under control, the power as well. Bakugou and Todoroki were by all means picture perfect in ability, but they both had...other issues. Sasagawa was an interesting one. Her Quirk let her heal others by kissing them, handy for a hero, but useless for combat, but she had scraped through the test somehow, Shouta figured that she had been using her Quirk to keep her vitality up throughout the Quirk Apprehension, which was a commendable strategy.

1-A wasn't too bad, but he couldn't help but feel a slight twinge in his heart when he thought of Kaminari.

' _I wonder how he's doing?'_

* * *

Never had Denki ever wished to be at the Academy more than now. At least  _there_ most people had some semblance of respect for him. Here there was no such notion.

Denki had been sitting in the classroom, innocently waiting for lunch to finish, when a rather muscular boy stalked up to his desk.

"Electrification, huh," the boy glared at him in an apparently intimidating way, "that's like a pretty strong Quirk. I saw you at the Hero Practical, why didn't you get in?" The boy smirked. "Don't tell me you're just that  _weak_."

Denki just stared at him blankly. "Ah," he said, "who are you again?"

The boy flushed, banging his fist on Denki's desk in what was probably supposed to be a threatening manner, "d-don't try to act tough!" The boy exclaimed, "I have Strength Quirk," he gave a quick flex, " so  _I'm_ the one who'll be transferring into the Hero Course."

"Oh. Ok." Denki responded dryly, giving the boy a thumbs up. "Good luck."

The boy reddened even more at the lacklustre response. " _Y-You l-little-"_

As the boy continued to sputter Denki studied him. ' _Name: Hashiryu Nayu, Quirk: Muscle Amplification.'_ Denki sighed slightly, piecing the pieces together, ' _so he feels threatened by my Quirk.'_

"Oi," a tired voice rang out, "don't make so much noise. I'm trying to sleep."

Both the Musclehead and him turned to the room's other occupant. Denki narrowed his eyes at the other boy. ' _Name: Shinsou Hitoshi, Quirk: Brainwashing.'_

The Musclehead sneered. "And what are you gonna do about it?  _Brainwash_  us? Unleash your inner  _villai-_ "

Denki knocked the brat's feet over from underneath the desk, letting the idiot collapse onto the floor. "Whoops," he apologized in a not-so-apologetic voice.

The boy clambered up from the floor in a sputtering mess, making a wild grab for Denki's collar. " _Why you-"_

* _crack*_

"Now, now,  _boys,"_ a voice purred, and Midnight emerged from the doorway "we don't encourage physical violence outside of class." she narrowed her eyes, "so let's stop fighting  _shall_ we _._ "

Musclehead gulped and backed off. "R-Right," he stuttered, looking fearfully at Midnight, "o-ok."

He scampered off with that final statement, and Midnight turned to them.

"If he bothers you guys again just let the teachers know," she licked her lips sensually, "we can... _deal_ with him."

Denki and Shinsou both nodded and the Hero threw a quick glance at Denki. "Eri-chan would be in the staffroom right now."

Denki nodded. "Thanks."

"Well then," she smiled seductively, "I'll see you  _boys_  later."

Once the Hero left, the purple-haired kid turned to him glaring. "I didn't need your help."

' _Ah,'_  Denki thought, ' _so he's one of_ _ **those**_   _types.'_ He eye-smiled back. "I didn't need yours either."

The boy huffed and turned away. They sat in a peaceful silence until the end-of-lunch bell rang.

* * *

Kaminari Denki was definitely one of Hitoshi's more...peculiar classmates. In another universe perhaps Hitoshi would have envied the boy, but at this point, Hitoshi was more interested then he cared to admit. An air of mystery seemed to enshroud the boy, hiding him from the view of his peers. Kaminari was a mess of contradictions. The top scorer in the Written Exam yet seemingly unable to answer a single question in class. The wielder of a convenient and powerful Quirk but apparently not strong enough to make it into the Hero Course. Kaminari was even annoyingly familiar with almost all the UA staff, as well as the school itself. He was confident, but pretended to be meek. Lazy, but had a body that indicated hours of harsh training.

Kaminari was an unknown and Hitoshi wanted to know  _why._

* * *

Izuku had been through what only considered one of the best and worst days of his life.

He had his first day at UA _. UA!_  As in the  _ **best**_ hero school in Japan. As in the school  _All Might_ was an alumnus off!

Izuku had also thought for a moment he was going to be expelled from said school. Even if Aizawa-sensei had claimed it was a logical ruse he had still gone through a terrifying turmoil of emotions.

Izuku had also made friends! Real friends, not like Kacchan's lackeys. And  _one_ of them was a  _girl_!

Uraraka-san and Iida-san were really nice. Really, really nice. And their  _Quirks!_ So much potential! He couldn't believe they wanted to be friends with someone like  _him_.

In his opinion though, out of 1-A, Sasagawa had the most heroic Quirk. Healing Quirks were super rare, someone like her would be incredibly useful in the industry. She had even used her Quirk on him! Though it had been a flustering experience, the notes he'd gotten on the Quirk were totally worth it. Before, he'd assumed the girl's Quirk was like Recovery Girl's, but it turned out that Sasagawa's Quirk was much more powerful - and required direct mouth to mouth contact.

Sasagawa herself was a nice enough person, if not a bit distant. Izuku supposed it wasn't just her, Todoroki was like that as well. Though, he heard she acted quite different in the Exam.

UA was amazing. The people here were much nicer than middle school.

He couldn't wait to tell his mom.

* * *

"How was  _school_?" Kurama couldn't help but snicker at his own question.

Denki shot him a dirty look from over his book. " _Fine_."

" _Pft_ ," Kurama snorted, 'no need to lie, there's no one else here at the base."

Denki snapped his book shut. "I said it was  _fine._ "

" _Sure._ "

Denki scowled at him, putting his book away and shifting away from the wall he was leaning on "Any updates?" He asked.

Kurama sobered up at the question. "Yeah," he answered. "both groups have disappeared from our radar. The last word we got was from the League of Villains. Apparently, they were trying to make contact with an old and retired villain.

"Who?"

Kurama grimaced. "He calls himself the  _Phoenix._ "

* * *

"Kurogiri, how are the plans going?'"

"All on schedule, Tomura.  _They_ have accepted the deal, we will have someone deliver the appropriate information to them _._ The research team has already shortlisted Nomu's for the attack."

"Good, good. What about the negotiations with  _him?"_

"From what Sensei has told me,  _he_ is interested in our little acquisition."

"Yes, yes. The items will be ready soon. Our quest can start."

"Of course, Tomura."

* * *

"Did you tell them our answer?"

"Yes, Overhaul."

"Good. Now we can prepare our  _actual_ plan."

"Of course."

* * *

"Oi brat," Kaede scowled at him from inside her house, "what are you doing?"

Denki shrugged at the woman, scaling up the wall and sitting himself down on her window frame. "I finished."

Kaede raised her eyebrows. "That was fast, but what are you doing at my house?"

He hummed, fiddling with the tips of his gloves. "I need a favour."

She sighed, finally putting away the book she had been reading. "What?" She asked in an annoyed voice.

Denki studied the woman intently for a second. "I need information on the  _Phoenix_."

Kaede paused thoughtfully. "What do I get in return?"

Denki hesitated for a second. "...that drug, Trigger _,_ I'll get it for you."

"The American one?"

He nodded.

"Deal, I'll have it ready by next week."

* * *

 


	11. Chapter 7a

* * *

 

It  _should_ have been a normal day. Denki  _should_ have walked to school peacefully,  _should_ have attended class.

But no, he got kidnapped by villains. Again.

_**Flashback One Hour:** _

_Denki hummed as he walked to class. It was a good day today. The sun was out and he didn't even need to go to work. His only obligation was school, after that he was free to train as much as he liked._

_Denki paused mid-hum. 'A tugging sensation,' he thought, 'why am I feeling a tugging sensation? And why is it so familiar?'_

_Black mist began to enshroud the surrounding area._

' _The League of Villains,' Denki remembered in alarm, 'they're here!'_

_Before the cloud of darkness could completely enclose him, Denki leapt outside of its grasps, dropping his bag and circling around the dome._

' _Where is the perpetrator?' he wondered, 'they've got to be here somewhere.'_

_And sure enough, Denki could spot a metal glint hidden underneath the mass of mist._

_He smiled slightly. 'If it needs to be protected then it's a weakness.' Denki let an inconspicuous spark of electricity travel up his arm. ' And metal is a great conductor of electricity.'_

_Denki let himself be tugged into the portal once more, this time positioning himself on the path of the perpetrator._

_A pair of yellow eyes glanced up at him too late._

' _Got you now!' he internally exclaimed._

" _Tomura!" The figure strangled out._

_A grey, flaky, hand emerged from the mist, grasping onto his foot._

' _My shoe,' Denki realized, 'it's disintegrating.'_

" _Got him."_

_And with that, Denki disappeared._

_**Flashforward One Hour:** _

"So this is our little reward, our new item for the quest."

'Tomura' grinned. An ugly, twisted grin, made almost invisible by the hand clasped onto his face.

He squatted in front of Denki, taking in gleefully the chained and bruised image.

"Our little hostage," Tomura practically sang, "our little  _important_ hostage. Who has very  _close_ ties to a very  _annoying_ group of vigilantes." The man almost pouted. "They've made everything very difficult you know, made us change our plans again and again and again. It wasn't fair at all. But now," he smiled, "but now we have  _you._ Our little example. One we can shove in UA's, All Might's, the Biju's,  _everyone's_ faces."

Tomura giggled, cackled, broke out in a burst of maniacal laughter.

"We're going to kill you," he sang again, this time accompanied by rapid scratching, "kill you in front of  _everybody._ Before we kill All Might that is."

Denki frowned minuscully. ' _All Might?'_ He thought in surprise, ' _that's who they're targeting? How?'_

"Tomura," 'Kurogiri' announced, " _they're_  ready. We should get going,"

Tomura smirked. "Right then. Next stop.  _USJ."_

Denki froze. ' _That's where Aizawa is.'_

* * *

Izuku was  _excited_. He just met  _Thirteen._  The coolest rescue hero  _ever_! And he was in  _USJ,_ the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. It was  _sooo_ cool. Thirteen had given them a speech on the dangers of Quirks, which was very inspiring and very cool and very thought-invoking and damn he really needed to update his notes on Thirteen-

* _crash*_

A black cloud of mist began to converge behind the teachers.

' _What is that?'_ Izuku wondered, staring at the haze of darkness, ' _Is it a test?_

The slightly panicked look on Aizawa-sensei's face answered that, Izuku felt a spike of dread in his stomach.

"Gather together and don't move," Sensei yelled, standing in front of them protectively, "Thirteen, defend the students."

"What  _is_  that?" Kirishima whispered.

Izuku turned back to the haze of mist. A hand emerged, then one, two, three, four _,_ five-so many more figures.

Aizawa-sensei grimaced. "Villains."

Yaoyorozu turned to Thirteen. "What about the trespassing sensors?" She asked.

"Well," Thirteen answered, head flicking around the room," we have them but..."  _they didn't ring._

"Then they must have a Quirk that let them in," Todoroki concluded, "this attack, it was done with a goal in mind."

Uraraka gasped. "Wait! They have a UA student."

Izuku turned to the villains again, and yes, chained and worn, in the grasp of a villain with a hand on his face, was a boy wearing a UA uniform.

" _Kaminari Denki!"_ Sasagawa exclaimed, hands covering her face in shock, "he's in Gen-ed,"

Izuku could hear Aizawa-sensei swear.

"Shit." The man clenched a fist, "Thirteen, start the evacuation. I'm counting on you."

And with that, Aizaw-no,  _Eraserhead_ , leapt into the fray.

* * *

Thirteen turned sharply to the students. "Alright students, head towards the-"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," a suave voice whispered. Black fog clouded the exit. "As the League of Villains," the wispy villain announced, "we can't let you alert the other Pro's. After all the aim  _is_ to kill All Might." The figure grinned at them. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is?"

"WHY YOU-" Explosions came bursting at the shrouded figure, but Bakugou was pushed back almost immediately.

"Now, now," the figure chastised mockingly, "that wasn't very  _nice._ "

An obsidian coloured dome surrounded the students, and just like that, most of them disappeared.

* * *

Tsuyu had been teleported to the  _Conflagration Zone_  of all areas.

" _NOON_! My laser is not good to attack the fire."

With Aoyama.

"MY GRAPES! THEY DON'T WORK WELL HERE."

And Mineta.

"Stay calm guys- _ribbit-_ panicking will do us no good." She panted, wiping drops of sweat from her forehead.

Aoyama paused in his panicking, glancing at her in concern. " _Madame_ ," he asked, "are you alright?"

She gave him a weak smile. "The heat here isn't really good for me."

_*chomp* *chomp* *chomp*_

"Are these the little brats I can  _eat._ "

Tsuyu stared up at the scarecrow-like villain that was now approaching them.

' _Crap.'_

* * *

' _They had Kaminari.'_

That was the resounding thought in Shouta's head.

' _Why? "WhyWhyWhy? He was in Gen-ed. He was_ _ **supposed**_ _to be_ _ **safe.'**_

Shouta gritted his teeth as he bound another villain, throwing them further to knock out more. He was slowly working his way to where Kaminari was, the grasp of the hand-villain.

' _Damn it,'_  he cursed, ' _most of these villains have mutant-type Quirks.'_

"Ha. Look at the hero go," the villain exclaimed mockingly, "the masses don't stand a chance." he glared at Shouta from a distance, caressing Kaminari's neck with four fingers. "Right. Kaminari- _chan_ ," he gripped onto the boy's throat, "we need a bit  _more_ firepower." He grinned. "But that's what  _you're_ here for, right,  _Rappa._ "

A muscular man wearing a plague mask strutted up to Shouta, cracking his knuckles as he went. He grinned at Shouta. "Let's fight until our last breath, shall we?"

Shouta eyed the man carefully. ' _He's not like the other grunts,'_  he thought cautiously, ' _I need to be caref-'_

"DON'T FORGET ABOUT US!"

Bullets came flying towards him, Shouta moved to defend himself but found them intercepted by the plague-mask villain.

"Don't interfere," the man said coldly.

' _So he's got a speck of honour in him, huh.'_ Shouta let his binding cloth float above him as the mask-villain tsched.

"You uses weapons, huh," the man cracked his neck, "whatever, I'll kill you anyway."

' _Bring it.'_

* * *

"Ehhh," Tomura sighed, "he's one of  _those_ types." The man pouted at the villain and hero fighting, then the intercepted villains laying lifeless on the plaza floor. "How stupid," he scowled, "he only made it harder on himself."

"I think he's got a respectable sense of honour," Denki remarked, "it's quite impressive. You don't find many people like that often."

"But now the fight is going to take aggges." The villain complained.

' _No, it won't,'_  Denki thought as he observed the fight, ' _that man, Rappa, is holding back. He intends for Aizawa to win.'_

"Does he work for you? That man?" Denki asked the villain curiously.

The hand-villain frowned, scratching his face with his other hand. "No. We borrowed him."

Kaminari hummed. ' _So whoever they 'borrowed' him from must have another agenda,'_ he sighed, ' _how troublesome.'_

"He's losing," the villain whispered, "why is he losing? He's not supposed to lose. He's not allowed to."

"A good boss should be able to account for these things, you know." Denki pointed out.

"Shut up," the villain hissed, grasping onto Denki's neck tighter. "I have other plans prepared, I just need to wait for the right moment. For All Might."

"So when exactly is  _my_ death sentence?"

"Whenever I feel like it."

' _Well,'_ Denki smirked, ' _we can't have that now, can we?'_ He let a buzz of electricity surround him.

The villain frowned. "What ar-"

Using the moment of confusion, Denki broke free from the man's grasp, pushing himself onto and off the ground, driving his feet into the man's chest and sending the villain back a couple metres. Sparks of electricity still flickered at the point of impact.

* _clank*_

A pair of metal cuffs were dropped to the ground.

After the first blow had been delivered, Denki moved in for a second, taking advantage of the split-second slowness. He swung a leg underneath his opponent, effectively tripping the man. Tomura, not to be outdone, immediately pushed himself off the floor and made a grab for Denk's neck.

"Got you  _now_ ," the villain exclaimed.

Before Denki could twist himself away a white cloth grabbed him by the waist, pulling him back.

Amongst a cloud of dust and dirt, Aizawa came skidding forward, yanking Denki towards him.

Once the dust cleared, Denki could see bodies scattered across the Plaza. Including the very much conscious one of Rappa's.

"Stay back kid, I've got this," Aizawa panted, pushing Denki behind him. Denki eyed Rappa's limp figure, judging by the way Aizawa was acting, he didn't seem to be aware that the man was still conscious.

Tomura smirked, lunging towards the hero, fingers outstretched. "Pretty words,  _hero_ ," he clasped onto the man's elbow, "but I'm not the final boss."

The shadow of a monstrous figure blanketed the hero.

Denki gritted his teeth and sent jolts of electricity down his arm.

' _Crap.'_

* * *

" _Young Iida!_ What are you doing?"

All Might slowed down as he saw the boy speeding towards him.

"Villains," the boy panted, "at USJ." He finally let his engines come to a halt,

All Might's expression hardened. "Alert the rest of the teachers," the man instructed.

Iida nodded, and both of them sped off in opposite directions.

' _Hold on 1-A.'_ All Might grimaced, ' _I'll be there soon.'_

* * *

_*crash*_

Shouta scrunched his face up in pain as he felt his spine crack ominously. It was as if his guts were being ripped out of him, bit by bit, in the most agonising way possible, while the rest of him were being pelted with metre long knives. The Nomu smashed Shouta into the ground again. His mouth was turning into a fountain for blood.

"Not so confident  _now_  are you,  _hero_." Tomura cackled.

Shouta could only lie limply on the ground, eyes shakily trying to keep a grip of the situation. ' _Is that,'_ he realized blearily, ' _golden sparks?'_

A fist, followed by a burst of electricity, plunged right into the heart of the creature. It let out a strangled cry before collapsing to the ground.

' _Kaminari?'_ Shouta could make out the vague outlines of his face.

The hand-villain stomped his foot. "What!" He exclaimed, "that's cheating! You're not supposed to be that  _strong!"_

A warp gate appeared next to the tantrum-throwing villain.

"Tomura," a wispy villain stood respectfully by the villain as he analysed the situation. The man sighed. "Thirteen has been incapacitated, but one of the students escaped. The heroes will arrive soon, should we leave?"

"NO!" The hand-villain gritted his teeth, turning angrily to the creature. "NOMU!" The monstrous creature got up, the hole in its chest slowly disappearing. "KILL HIM!" The villain screamed.

The 'Nomu' lunged for Kaminari, who skidded away from the creature, but wasn't fast enough to evade the inevitable blow. The boy, however, didn't collapse to the floor as Shouta did. Instead, he surrounded himself with an electric glow and pushed off from the ground, kicking the beast's jaw. From there, the boy's attacks only sped up, pounding into the creature faster than it could keep up with.

' _No,'_ Shouta realized, damaged eyes still trying to keep up with the boy, ' _Kaminari isn't speeding up. The Nomu is slowing down.'_ Shouta continued to observe the fight. ' _Kaminari's not trying to defeat the Nomu,'_ he noticed, ' _his attacks don't have enough power too._ Comprehension dawned on Shouta. ' _He's trying to buy us time.'_

"NOMU!" The villain exclaimed, "FINISH HIM!"

The creature paused for a second, observing the boy, before grabbing him mid-punch. The  _thing_ moved to crush the boy and-

_*CRASH*_

The Nomu was thrown onto the wall and Kaminari was deposited on the floor.

"IT'S FINE NOW," All Might boomed, lacking the signature smile on his face. "I AM HERE!"

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> splitting some chaps lol


	12. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> soz

All Might was here. Everything was all right, because All Might was here.

Denki almost snorted. ' _What a naive thought process.'_

Certainly, their chances had improved quite a bit with the hero's arrival, but considering the entire point of this debacle was to kill the man, it was safe to say they weren't completely off the hook.

The Nomu, Denki had noticed, was designed to emulate All Might's fighting style. It was why Denki had an easier time with it - he had a different fighting style and that clearly tripped the creature up.

In all honesty, Denki thought his chances against the creature were marginally better then the Number One Hero, if only because he had an element of surprise that the Hero lacked.

All Might was doing reasonably well, though, the man could match the beast's power well enough, whether he could go beyond it…well, that was the question.

' _The Nomu takes orders from Shiragaki,'_ Denki mused, ' _perhaps if he were to be incapacitated…'_ He smirked. ' _Well, there's an idea.'_

* * *

Shouta could only stare at the ongoing clash. He couldn't do  _anything_. He was  _incompetent_. He was  _worthless._ He was  _pointless._ He was, well, useless.

Kaminari wasn't. Kaminari had fought the creature. Kaminari had fought the Nomu longer than him and held his own. It made Shouta feel guilty.  _He_ was the Hero here,  _he_  was supposed to be protecting Kaminari. Not the other way around.

And then there was All Might. Shouta would be lying if he said he didn't think this was the hero's fault. Because it was. Partly. Obviously, All Might didn't  _want_ villains to attack. But he should have taken possibilities like this into account before wasting his time on minor crimes. The man had a duty as a teacher, after all.

"NOMU GET UP!"

Shouta frowned slightly at the villain yelling orders. The man was a real brat. A brat with power, but a brat nonetheless.

"NOMU STA-"

The villain fell abruptly, collapsed more like.

Shouta's eyes widened. A pool of blood was oozing around the man. And dead centre of the man's chest lay a small blade.

' _What?'_

* * *

Uraraka could only gape at the scene laid out in front of her.

All Might was fighting the weird creature villain, who had been following the orders of the hand-villain, who was...dead?

The beast was still fighting. Following its last orders, Deku had mumbled. But the hand-villain…

Someone had thrown a knife at him. It couldn't have been Tokoyami, Deku, or any of the other students with them. She would have seen it then. All Might was fighting the Nomu, Aizawa-sensei was incapacitated, so was Kaminari. But then ...who did it?

' _And why?'_

* * *

The trick with the not-really-a-kunai wasn't that hard, in Denki's opinion. It was something easily learned in genin years.

Judging by the confused looks on everyone's faces it had worked well. Denki had killed the villain without it being traced to him. The opportunity had been presented during the first fight but Denki couldn't risk it with Aizawa potentially finding out. Since the not-really-a-kunai had been the only and original one of its design, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to him. As long as he didn't show anyone this particular skill of his, no one would make the connection.

It was perfect, really.

* * *

As soon as the 'leader' was incapacitated, All Might's win against the Nomu was almost guaranteed. The thing had gotten confused without its leader's orders. It still fought, but not very well. All All Might needed was a punch, and it didn't even need to go past 100%.

"SMASH!"

The thing didn't even stand a chance.

All Might turned around as soon as the blast was delivered, scanning the area for the main perpetrators. He was faced with a pathetically laid out scene. Villains, no, thugs, were groaning on the floor. Spots of blood, dirt, rubble, were scattered across the Plaza, but the main instigators were nowhere in sight.

It was then the teachers arrived.

"Sorry everyone," the Principal announced, heading the staff as they stormed in, "I gathered all those who were available."

All Might smiled bitterly. "A bit late, aren't we?"

The Principal sighed, studying the scene around him. He glanced at All Might. "It seems you had it handled."

"All Might," Cementoss whispered, coming up behind him, "your time limit."

A block of concrete covered him, and Toshinori relaxed. "Thanks."

' _It's over.'_

* * *

From there, everything was chaotic. The powerful villains had already fled the scene, leaving them to deal with the grunts.

Nezu sighed, watching the police and ambulance comb throughout the building with tired eyes.

' _We won, but in the end, who lost the most?'_

Present Mic was screaming, presumably out of concern, at Eraserhead, who laid in a bloody heap on a stretcher. Midnight was gently lifting her own mangled mess of a student from the ground. Kaminari had settled himself on her shoulder, relaxing ever so slightly.

Nezu frowned slightly at the boy. He had heard the reports, a Gen-Ed student being held hostage by the villains. It was certainly interesting that the villains chose one of the strongest Gen-Ed students, since it was  _also_  reported that the villains had intimate knowledge on the 1-A students. It wasn't confirmed, but considering the careful placement of each student in accordance with the weaknesses of their Quirk, the implication was there.

The whole situation almost made it seem as if there was a  _traitor_ in their midst.

Nezu had considered the possibility that the knowledge may be confined to the Hero-Course, it  _could_ just be coincidence, but it was still...interesting that Kaminari of all students had been kidnapped.

Even more interesting was how Kaminari handled the situation. Brutal, efficient, deadly. That was what the student spectators had told him. Not in those words of course, but it was implied. The boy was not short in fighting experience, it seemed.

Most intriguing was the first blow against the Nomu.  _An attack that intended to kill_ , Midoriya had told him. In any other situation, Nezu would be forced to put a black mark on the boy's record. But the circumstances today were quite unique, and someone rather close to Kaminari had been put in a life-threatening position. So Nezu was willing to let it go.

He was still interested in the boy's next move.

" _Principal!_ Why are you laughing, this is a serious situation!'

"That makes laughter even more important, my dear students, especially when you're thinking about the many ways to destroy villains."

"  _Where did that tea come from!"_

* * *

Toshinori was resting in the hospital when the Principal came walking in. The mouse pulled him over to the side

"The villains knew," the Principal grimaced at him, "they knew about our student's Quirks, they knew about our teacher's Quirks. Any element of surprise the students had was lost, and there was an experienced villain placed in every section the students were in."

"Any critical injuries?" Toshinori asked, twiddling his hands nervously..

The mouse gave him a bitter smile. "No. No permanent damage was inflicted on the students. According to some of the students, the stronger ones didn't try very hard. They were just mocking them. A couple of them expressed quite a bit of discontent at the mere fact of being there."

"Forced villainy, maybe?" Toshinori wondered, hand coming to rest underneath his chin

The Principal frowned, clenching a paw, "Perhaps," he said, "but we don't know who injured their leader in the end. Maybe they aren't the only group at work here?"

"PRINCIPAL!"

A young hero came bursting through the doors of the hospital.

"T-The girl," he panted, "the girl, she's  _gone!_ "

The Principal froze. " _Who,"_ he asked, voice turning cold.

The hero, if anything, paled further. "Eri."

* * *

Denki, being the Shinobi he was, had been eavesdropping on all the conversations despite being drugged on a hospital bed.

' _The girl? Eri?'_ Denki blanked, fists scrunching his bedsheets nervously and panic slowly creeping into the corners of his mind. ' _No. .'_

Denki to a deep breath, releasing the crumpled sheets. ' _Ok,'_ he told himself, ' _calm down. It makes sense. It makes perfect sense. Rappa, that guy is from the Eight Precepts of Death. So them and the League are probably working together. An agreement, maybe. And Overhaul used that deal to get into UA so he could get Eri. Which is not good, not good at all.'_

There were two options here. Wait for the heroes to deal with it, or deal with it himself. Considering the wealth of information Denki had on the group,  _he_ was probably the better choice. ' _And besides,'_  Denki thought, ' _the Biju would probably be happy to help.'_

* * *

Nezu had been put in a very poor position. On one hand, he needed to do damage control on the whole USJ crisis, on the other, he had to go save Eri.

There was always the option of pawning off the rescue task to another agency, but considering the incident happened in UA, UA was morally obliged to take care of it.

He also needed to tighten  _all_  security around the school. Clearly, they'd been getting complacent.

Nezu was in charge of the very difficult job of splitting UA's already weakened resources between three things.

And it was not nice.

* * *

"Don't move an inch of that bed young man," Recovery Girl sternly instructed, ponting her giant-walking-stick-needle-thing at him, "or you won't get  _any_ candy."

Denki sweatdropped, backing away from the sharpened ended. "Ah, ok."

She huffed at him, eyeing his  _totally-not-guilty_ face before sighing and leaving.

Denki waited a couple seconds after the door clicked shut, before bounding out of the bed. His eyes flickered to the security camera glaring at him. Denki smirked at it, casually strutting towards an empty power socket and thumbed its empty crevices. He let a trickle of electricity drift down his hand and into the circuit. The camera crackled slightly before collapsing. He grinned, ' _for a top notch hospital, their electrical system is really quite basic.'_

Denki sighed, cracking his neck and stretching his limbs with various other stretches, he frowned at the slight tingle of discomfort it brought. His injuries were worse than he thought, it seemed.

' _The heroes haven't told me anything yet,'_ Denki mused, pulling his arm to the side, ' _probably don't want me to get worried, but that also means they won't suspect me as much,'_  he sighed, grabbing his spare mask and shoving it in his pocket. ' _I should probably get going then, wouldn't want them to waste too many heroes.'_ He crammed on a shoe, hobbling towards his bed with one foot and stuffing it with pillows.

Denki pushed open a window and leapt into it, leaning back and thumbing a power socket again before completely disappearing.

The camera flickered on once more, capturing a totally normal scene of a messy room and a patient in bed.

* * *

Kurama glared at Denki with a sour expression, tapping his paw impatiently as he gave a summary of what the boy had told him, "so the girl's been kidnapped, and you want us to help you save her."

Denki nodded, back leaned against a wall and shoulders tensed. "Pretty much," he paused. "So?" Impatience was bleeding into his voice.

The fox's expression resembled the image a squeezed lemon, clenched and creased. He sighed. "Why not?" Kurama relented, adding on sarcastically, "sounds  _fun_."

"YES!" Shukaku exclaimed, practically jumping up in excitement, "I can  _finally_  kill people."

Kurama shot the raccoon a dirty look. "You realise this is an espionage type thing," he said dryly, "the point  _isn't_ to kill people, just to get the girl."

Shukaku scowled at Kurama. "No one cares, stupid fox."

* * *

_**OPERATION: RESCUE ERI** _

_**RANK: ...** _

SHUKAKU _: D, this will be a piece of cake._

MATATABI: _I'd say about C, it's quite important._

KAKASHI:  _It's actually an-_

KURAMA:  _Pft. This doesn't even need a rank._

KAKASHI:  _No, not quite-_

GYUUKI:  _C sounds about right._

SON GOKU:  _I agree with Shukaku._

SAIKEN:  _My votes with Kurama._

KAKASHI: *sigh*  _This mission, by Shinobi standards, would be A rank._

CHOMEI:  _Lame._

KOKOU:  _How disappointing._

MATATABI:  _I forgot how weak humans are._

KURAMA:  _Very anticlimactic._

KAKASHI _: …*sigh* I give up._

_**RANK: A** _

_**OBJECTIVE: …** _

SHUKAKU:  _To kill everybody._

KAKASHI:  _Not quite what we're going for here._

SHUKAKU:  _Well that's my goal. You can do whatever shit you like._

KAKASHI:  _Never mind then._

_**OBJECTIVE: To rescue Eri (and kill people)** _

_**Pay:** _

KURAMA:  _We're getting paid for this?_

KAKASHI:  _No, we are not. Who put that in there?_

SAIKEN:  _I want monetary compensation._

KAKASHI:  _Then rob a bank on your way out. Why do you even want money?_

SAIKEN:  _To satisfy my urges._

KAKASHI: ... _moving on._

_**OPERATION: RESCUE ERI** _

_**RANK: A** _

_**OBJECTIVE: To rescue Eri with minimal contact.** _

KURAMA:  _Those who wish to blow them up, say Aye. Aye._

SHUKAKU:  _AYE!_

MATATABI:  _Aye_.

ISOBU: A _h, aye?_

SON GOKU:  _Aye_.

KOKOU:  _Aye._

SAIKEN:  _Aye._

CHOMEI:  _Lucky_   _Aye._

GYUUKI:  _Aye._

KAKASHI:  _WHAT NO! We can't be_ _ **that**_ _obvious._

KURAMA:  _You know you want to._

SHUKAKU:  _Yeees, give in to your_ _ **desires**_ _._

KAKASHI: …

KURAMA:  _Kakashi?_

MATATABI:  _Poor thing got tired of your bullshit and left._

KURAMAL:  _You agreed as well._

MATATABI:  _No comment._

* * *

Eri remembered this place, she remembered it well. It was where all the painful things took place.

A grey bed to sleep in.

A plastic chair to sit on.

Another plastic chair for Overhaul to sit on.

A bunch of machines that made weird noises.

It was all the same. Nothing changed. Nothing would change,

"Eri," Overhaul said gently, an unmistaken hiss coating his voice as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched at the touch, cowering away from the man.

She could feel the ominous fear of his presence grip onto her, as the man brought his face right up to her ear. "You've been a naughty girl," he whispered, the gentle clasp of a hand tightening to a painful clutch, "I had to go through a lot of trouble to get you back."

Eri shivered at the killing intent in his voice, the sheer  _hate_  radiated by the man keeping her firmly in place.

"But it's all right," he said coaxingly, grip easing and voice sickeningly sweet, "you're here now, so we can continue  _right_ from where we left off," his eyes creased upwards, lopsided crescents that showcased twisted joy. "In fact, we can start  _now_."

Eri wanted to cry. She really did. But she couldn't cry.

Eri didn't want to make it worse.

' _Nii-san, I'm sorry. You're going to be hurt. Again.'_

* * *

"You know, for some Yakuza Headquarters, this place is surprisingly well-kept," Shukaku marvelled, observing the indeed rather well-kept building towering over them. It most certainly didn't look like the base of criminal organization, Denki had imagined it to be something not unlike the Biju Base.

Matatabi snorted, paws firmly crossed as she snarked, "everything is well-kept to you, not everyone lived in a place covered in dirt and sand."

"Oh yeah?" Shukaku retorted, "well I bet nobody lived in a-"

"Let's calm down shall we," Denki intervened, placing himself firmly in between the bickering pair.

Kurama snorted from behind them, he glanced at Denki mockingly. "Who knew you could play peacekeeper so well."

"Naruto and Sasuke gave me plenty of practice," Denki bantered back lightly.

Kurama cackled at that statement, paw coming to cover his mouth. " _Pft_. I'm pretty sure you didn't do shit to keep-"

"A-Anyway _,"_ Isobu stuttered, cutting into the argument before it could heat up, "shouldn't we get going now?"

"Right," Denki agreed, studying the building, "operation commence." He disappeared, leaping onto another building to observe the guards and cameras scattered across the site.

"Ooh,  _fancy."_

"Shut up, racoon."

"I TAKE OFFENCE TO THAT!"

"To what? Being called a racoon?"

"UGHHH!"

* * *

Things were finally going Kai's way. He'd had a couple of hiccups with his plans thanks to that silly vigilante group, but he'd recovered his main chess piece thanks to the stupid league. How Eri ended up in UA was still a mystery, Kai's best guess was that some hero had picked her off the streets and dumped her at the school.

The League of Villains had even provided him with some excellent information for quite a cheap price, they truly were oblivious to Eri's real worth if they were willing to hand out such knowledge so carelessly, for just for a couple extra pawns as well. It only served to prove Kai's point that only  _he_ could use Eri to her full potential, clearly not even the oh-so-powerful League of Villains could see the jewel glaring right at them.

Now that Kai had all his pieces on the board, he could finally make a move. Best now before the heroes found any lead to him, but considering the incompetence of most of the local agencies, Kai doubted that would happen for a while.

"B-B...O...SS!" A man, one of the security guards, he recognised, came bursting into his office, collapsing before his desk. The man's face was sickly pale and marred with discolored blemishes.

" _T-The...Biju,"_  he croaked, voice cracking from strain, " _the-y're...her-"_  The man crumpled to the floor, head lolling to the side to reveal a bloody bruise blooming across his throat. Blood oozed from his mouth.

Kai clenched the pen in his hand, snapping it in half. ' _Damn it,'_  he cursed, getting up and kicking the corpse to the side, as the body twisted to the side he noticed an oddly precise formation of blood.

A smiley face with its tongue poking out, underneath it, spelled with blood were the Kanji, ' _ **Surprise!'**_

The veins of Kai's forehead surfaced with unrestrained rage, his fists clenched white and his breathes, short and ragged. ' _They'll pay,'_ he promised himself, turning away from the mocking image, unseen lips twisting into an ugly grin, ' _they'll pay dearly.'_

* * *

"These people are weak," Kurama yawned as he lazily flicked another yakuza with his tail. The body crashed into the wall with a sickening crunch, sagging down to join the cluster of corpses.

Denki sweat-dropped slightly, glancing around the bloodstained scene around him. The underground labyrinth appeared to be quite crowded with the ten of them. "Perhaps we should split up?" He suggested, the ten of them really weren't needed here.

"YES!" Shukaku yelled in agreement, bouncing on top of another yakuza as he did.

Denki frowned as bits of blood splattered onto him on impact, the poor man practically had his guts forced up his throat at every pounce. Denki shivered slightly, he could never get used to the brutal style of attack the Biju generally adopted.

Matatabi frowned, absentmindedly crushing a man's head with her claws, "I thought we were doing this espionage style?" She asked, flinging the decapitated head to the side.

Denki sighed, eyeing a massive hole further behind them in resignation. "That was before  _someone_ blew up their front door."

They all stared at Son Goku, who just huffed at them. "They were arrogant, foul-mouthed, little things who deserved every bit of it."

"I'm quite surprised that Shukau wasn't the one who gave into temptation," Koukou snorted, glancing at the raccoon, who was now tearing a man apart limb-by-limb with his sand in clear joy.

"We all have our moments restraint," Kurama muttered, nose wrinkling at the blood and bits being sprayed onto him, "this just happened to be one of Shukaku's few."

Said Biju only huffed. "Whatever," he scoffed, tossing the last of the limbs to the side, "I'm killing them whether you like it or not, now." He sniffed the air, wandering off to where it seemed to lead him. Denki was going to make a wild guess and assume it was where there was the most people.

He sighed, "I suppose we should all get going," Denki waved his hands in a shooing motion, "begone - and don't use too much Chakra."

The Biju gave their muttered, but probably not true, agreements before ambling off in random directions. Denki sighed, pressing a hand to his temple, ' _whatever,'_ he appeased himself, ' _they can take care of themselves,'_ he began to run forward.

' _Eri, I'm coming.'_

* * *

Everyone was panicking, they didn't say it, but Eri could tell. Their faces were all scrunched like lemons and their fists were all sickly white from too much clenching. It made Eri feel happy in a really guilty sort of way.

"GRAB HER!" Overhaul yelled, and Chronostasis scooped her up immediately. Overhaul snatched the man's collar and began to drag them towards some weird door, he kicked it open, revealing a pale narrow corridor. Overhaul turned to the other weird people, "buy time," he ordered. Letting go of Chronstasis's collar, he sped through the corridor, Chronostasis following shortly behind him.

If Eri didn't know any better, she would have almost thought that Overhaul looked scared.

* * *

Shukaku was having the most fun he'd ever had since coming into this dimension.

The mangled corpses, the crushed bodies, decapitated heads, that beautiful scent of blood. It was all  _bliss._

And those little humans trying to stop him. They were pathetic, he'd already pulverised them before they even finished screaming out their attack.

"T-THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

Oh. Another human was whining at him.

"Y-YOUR STAMINA," the man stuttered, paling further, "I STOLE IT! I TOOK THE DRUGS AND EVERYTHING!"

' _Huh,'_ he thought, ' _no wonder my chakra dipped a bit.'_ Sand began to circle around the man.

"NO! STOP! I BEG OF YOU, STO-"

_*squelch*_

Shukaku sniffed the air slightly, face pinching in disatisfaction. "The scarecrow one, Soramitsu, I believe his name was, had better-smelling blood than you," he scrunched his nose, expression souring, "how  _disappointing_."

Shukaku hummed, ambling over the corpse he made. "Now," he asked himself, "where to go  _next_?"

* * *

Denki sprinted through the remains of the once underground labyrinth, electricity pushing him further in every step.

He sighed at the ruins and corpses surrounding him at every turn, ' _they really are no match for the Biju,'_ he spotted various tails like marks etched into the ground he was running on, ' _even when they only have a fraction of their strength.'_

Denki's ears perked up at the subtle sound of footsteps, probing him to move faster, as he did, he caught a glance of two figures running ahead of him.

Denki grinned. ' _Found them.'_

* * *

A kid. All this trouble because of one kid. Hari could hear himself groan ever so slightly, as he caught a glimpse of a boy trailing behind them. Crackles of gold enveloped the boy, apparently serving as a speed boost. The boy himself wore a plain T-shirt and a pair of pants, accompanied by a pouch slung across his waist. The only vaguely interesting thing about him was the mask that covered half his face.

Overhaul face scrunched tighter and tighter as the boy came closer. He glanced at Hari, "keep going," the man told him in a gravelly voice, coming to a halt, "I'll take care of the boy."

Hari nodded, tightening his grip around the girl in his hands, "good luck," he whispered, regretting it instantly. Overhaul didn't need luck.

Overhaul, as expected, didn't respond, instead he turned grim-faced towards his opponent.

Hari scowled as he ran ahead. Rationally speaking, he  _knew_ his boss wouldn't be beaten by a child, but he couldn't help but feel a sprout of dread emerge in his gut.

' _No,'_  he shook his head vigorously, ' _Overhaul will never lose.'_

"Are you sure about that?"

Hari looked up in shook. A mutant man with fox-like ears and tails stood assuredly in front of him, his hands-no paws rested in pockets and head tilted to the side.

"H-How did-" Before Hari could finish the fox darted towards him, grabbing his neck and crushing it.

Hari collapsed, his breathing bloody and vision dilating. ' _what...happened...I...sorry...Kai…couldn't...do...anythi...'_

* * *

Denki slowed himself down as he approached the man.  _Overhaul,_ his mind supplied.

"Were you the one who took Eri?" The man asked, face twisted into a grimace as he slowly strutted towards him.

Denki didn't reply, but the man continued.

"I see," Overhaul sighed, "so this whole is because of you. Very well then," he held out a hand towards Denki, "I guess I'll have to eliminate you."

Overhaul lunged for him, hand still outstretched, a move Denki dodged with ease. The man pushed his hand onto the floor instead, dissembling it into spikes.

Denki eyed the new ground in fascination, ' _so his Quirk requires touch.'_ Denki smiled slightly as he manoeuvred himself around the spiky chunks, bringing out two kunai from his pocket. Before Overhaul could lunge for him once more, Denki threw the two kunai at the man's arms.

_*splat*_

Only one of them hit.

Denki tsched. ' _He has better reflexes than I thought.'_

Overhaul paused for a split-second to heal the dismembered arm, Denki grabbed the opportunity to charge forward, a Chidori already built up in his arm.

Overhaul barely had time to widen his eyes.

_*splat*_

Denki removed his hand from Overhaul as the man collapsed to the floor, a gaping hole in his chest. He wiped his hand on his shorts, wincing at the bloody stench that remained. Denki grimaced. ' _Time to find Eri.'_

* * *

Eri had been with Chronostasis. Chronostasis had been taking her somewhere. But then a fox-man came and killed him.

Eri shivered at the blood staining her dress, then at the man staring at her, then back at the corpse still holding her.

' _whats going on whats going on im scared im scared'_

Her hands started to glow, panic welled up inside of her as she realized what was happening. ' _oh god my quirk's gonna kill everyone stop it stop it stop it'_

The fox-man frowned at her and, completely ignoring her Quirk, lifted her up on to his shoulders. Eri tried to shake herself off, staring at her glowing hands in despair.

"It won't work on me," the man gruffly assured, "grab on, we're going to find your Nii-san."

Eri relaxed slightly at the mention of her Nii-san, a small bloom of trust budding as she tentatively buried herself into the man's fur-like hair, relaxing even more when nothing happened.

"Ok."

* * *

"I would call this mission a success." Shukaku preened, puffing out his chest in pride.

His comment was followed by various boos from his siblings.

Eri, Denki, and the Biju were at the Biju Base, discussing their next move. Well, the Biju and Denki were, Eri was sleeping.

Matatabi snorted, holding out her claws out primly in front of her face, "you just killed people left and right, the only ones who actually did something relevant to the task were Kurama and Kakashi."

"You did the exact same thing I did!" Shukaku protested, pulling her paw away so he could glare at her.

She huffed, flicking him in the forehead. "At least  _I_ exercised a bit of  _control_."

"No one cares cat," he sneered, trudging back to his seat on the floor, "go lick your tail or something."

" _Excuse me,"_ she said in an affronted voice, " _I-"_

Denki cleared his throat, standing up to gain their attention. " _Anyway,_ now that that's over, how are we going to bring Eri back to UA?'

Kurama smirked at Denki from the sofa he was lounging in. "Don't worry, go back to the hospital, we'll take care of it."

* * *

The next morning, the hospital staff found Denki basking in the early morning sunlight on the roof.

Needless to say, they weren't too happy.

* * *

The heroes found Eri sleeping quite peacefully in bed, a ribbon tied to her forehead and a card attached to it

_Dear UA,_

_While on our personal quest to destroy a Yakuza group by the name of 'Eight Precept of Death', we found this little girl. As a vigilante group, we do not generally take part in activities such as babysitting and have, therefore, gifted this child to you. If she is harmed in your care we will, however, most certainly take her back._

_Yours truly,_

_The Biju_

The heroes were, unsurprisingly, quite baffled.

* * *

 


	13. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hk,nkn,;k

* * *

 

Things had taken an...interesting turn for UA.

Nezu sipped his tea thoughtfully, idly flipping through the paperwork on his office desk.

To be fair, he wasn't exactly displeased with how the situation had turned out.

Eri had been saved. That was the most important thing here. They had also gotten an actual look at how much danger she was actually in, and what her Quirk could do, from Kaminari's grudging reports, so her security would be taken much more seriously now.

Now Nezu had more heroes to invest in UA's new security update, the public and the students may not be aware of the other break-ins, but the security still needed to be prioritised.

Nezu also had to deal with all the legal technicalities the USJ incident had brought forth. It wasn't too bad, considering no student had been critically or permanently injured, but UA had still taken a hit to their name. The media had already snatched up the scoop before UA could even release a statement.

Aside from all the predominant issues, Nezu also needed to hold a meeting regarding the Sports Festival.

And about one 'blond-brat', as Eraserhead referred to him as.

* * *

Shouta felt like shit. Not really a surprise, considering he was lying in hospital dressed like a glorified mummy.

He was supposed to go to school today, but it had been cancelled, security reasons apparently. All Shouta had to do was attend a staff-meeting later on.

So now he had the entire day to brood in bed, which would have been a blessing at almost any other time, just not this one, because all that could run through his mind was Kaminari, more specifically, Kaminari trying to kill the Nomu.

Shouta supposed the full implications of the boy's actions hadn't really hit him then, but they were most certainly slamming into him now.

Killing. Death. Murder. Three words Shouta would never have associated with Kaminari, the broken boy from the streets, the child who took in another child, a kid with so much spunk, so much life, so much-

_-he couldn't believe it._

But at the same time, Shouta could. He had seen the way Kaminari dealt with that man on the streets. Like a well-groomed predator, stalking and threatening his prey, Kaminari had  _experience._

Experience, Shouta wished he didn't have.

Perhaps the boy had known about the creature's regeneration? The villain holding him seemed to have been conversing with him a lot. Or maybe he had reacted like that because of Shouta? He  _had_ been in a precarious situation. But the boy had shown no hesitation, he didn't even flinch.

Normal, Kaminari acted like it was normal.

 _Brat'_  Shouta wondered, ' _what exactly was your life like before I met you?'_

* * *

Toshinori was nervous. Again. He really shouldn't be standing outside the staffroom door, too scared to go in, but he was. It was just a staff meeting. A staff meeting after a villain attack, but a staff meeting all the same. So really, Toshinori  _shouldn't_  be nervous. But he was. A lot. A lot nervous.

_It's all my fault, my stupid time limit, my stupid stupidity, Iwastooweaktooweak_ _**tooweak** _

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_I'm sorry_

* * *

Nezu grinned at the heroes entering the staffroom. "Ah, right on time, excellent, we have much to discuss."

The Pros settled themselves around a circular table.

"So," the Principal began, "the first point of discussion is the Villain Attack on USJ," he paused. "From what we know, the perpetrators were a group of villains who call themselves the League of Villains, their ring leader was a man by the name of Tomura Shigaraki, who was incapacitated at the end of the fight. His current condition is unknown."

All Might raised his hand and Nezu glanced at him. "Yes?" He asked.

All Might cleared his throat. "Ah, well, while I was fighting the Nomu, their ringleader was behaving in a very childlike manner. If I were to describe it, I'd say he was throwing a tantrum."

"A man who behaves like a child." Midnight muttered.

"Lack of Quirk-counselling, maybe?" Present Mic suggested. "I mean, he had a dangerous Quirk."

"So we're dealing with a man-child, huh," Vlad King sighed.

The mouse grimaced. "We don't know what happened to him, though. The police are still looking into who injured him, the blade that the villain was attacked with it is apparently custom made. No record of it could be found."

Nezu sighed, tapping a paw on his desk. "There's also that issue with Eri."

Eraserhead straightened. " _What?"_ He asked in surprise, "what happened to Eri?"

' _Ah. No one told him.'_ Nezu thought.

Present Mic laughed guiltily. " _Ah._ Well _._  You see. She was kind of kidnapped-"

" _What."_

"-last night and was rescued this morning. Well, the vigilante group who saved her dropped her off this morning."

"What vigilante group? And what do you mean dropped off? Did they ring the bell at the front gate or something? "

Present Mic was getting flustered now. "Well, no. Not really. Look, it's kind of complicated-"

"Then you're going to sit here and  _explain_ this  _entire_ thing for me  _until_ I know  _exactly_ what's going on.

"WHAT! That's going to take  _ages."_

"Then start explaining  _now."_

Nezu sighed. Again. ' _This will probably go overtime.'_

* * *

"Sensei _."_ Kurogiri bowed his head respectfully to the crackling screen.

The mist-man was sitting at a bar, alongside a hooded figure.

" _Kurogiri,"_ the screen replied, " _has Tomura healed yet?"_

The villain shook his head. "The wound should have killed him, so it will take another day."

The screen sighed. " _What a shame, but I suppose not all Quirks can be perfect. Have you begun operation two?"_

The screen had angled itself towards the figure now. They shook their head. "No," they responded, "I need more time."

The screen tutted. " _Very well, but Tomura won't be happy when he wakes up."_

The figure shivered slightly. "I know."

" _...Then I best be leaving then._ " The screen turned black.

* * *

Naomasa stared at the scene surrounding him. Rubble, dirt, blood, and a  _lot_ of corpses. The 'Biju' didn't play around apparently.

He sighed. ' _The Eight Precepts of Death, huh.'_

Beyond the remains, Naomasa could still get a picture of what the building must have been like. Underground paths, labs, weapon rooms. Perhaps, if the Biju hadn't brutally snuffed them out, the Eight Precepts of Death would have eventually risen to notoriety.

He walked around to the edge of the building, scanning for one body in particular.

' _Kai Chisaki,'_ he wondered, ' _where are you?'_

All he found were ashes.

* * *

Kurama yawned, "Oi, Matatabi, you burned all the important corpses right?"

"...yeah, why?"

"No reason."

* * *

Recovery Girl was glaring at him, unimpressed.

Denki could only cower under the hospital blankets, letting his eyes poke out sheepishly from the top. ' _Be one with the bed,'_ he thought, ' _be one with the bed.'_

"Why were you on the roof?" She asked, walking-needle-stick pointed at him once more.

' _Excuses, excuses, come on Denki; you're supposed to be an expert at this.'_  He smiled at her. "I was searching for the meaning of life."

Recovery Girl stared at him.

Denki stared back.

A battle of wills took place. Doctors and Nurses approaching the room flees at the sheer intensity. The stubborn will of a medic, the determination of a shinobi-who-really-did-not-want-to-do-shinobi-things.

Alas, for the nurse-hero, Denki had already faced the she-devil of medics; Tsunade.

Once you had a taste of her fists, no other medic could ever make you bat an eye.

"Fine," the heroine finally relented, "but how did you get those bruises?"

Another smile. "I tripped on the stairs."

If Recovery Girl had been any less professional, Denki was sure she would have screamed in frustration. Sakura had always given in to that particular desire quite quickly. He sighed nostalgically, ignoring the nurse's reddining expression, ' _I wonder how she's doing?'_

* * *

"Eraserhead," Nezu called, "stay back for a second."

The hero paused from leaving the staffroom, sitting back in his original seat.

Once all the heroes had left, Nezu began, taking a sip of tea. "I'm sure you know what this is all about?"

The man grimaced. "Kaminari, right?"

Nezu nodded, setting down his teacup. "His attitude that day was most definitely worrisome, even more for you, I believe, being his guardian."

Eraserhead remained quiet, Nezu continued. "From his demeanour though, I have come to a hypothesis, this apathetic behaviour to murder isn't inborn."

The hero stared at the mouse in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.

The rodent sighed. "Kaminari, from what I have observed, is not a bad person," Nezu paused, "this...indifference I believe, was born out of necessity. A will to kill, not for the sake of it, but for the need for it."

Eraserhead looked doubtful. "And you came to this conclusion how?"

Nezu smiled bitterly. "Out of personal experience. Experimentation on oneself does no wonders for one's mental health. I can see the symptoms in others."

The hero looked a bit cowed at that. "Oh. So what's your solution, then, we can't exactly coddle him into a safe place."

The Principal laughed. "Of course not, that would never work. I believe our first priority should be to look into the boy's past, if possible. Mistreatment against children is a despicable action. As for a solution," Nezu smirked, "teach him how to use that skill set in something more appropriate."

Eraserhead seemed dubious. "The Hero Course? He'll never agree."

Nezu smiled. "After this stint in USJ, we know that Kaminari has rarely ever used his full strength around us. Tell him that if he doesn't rank in the top 3 in the upcoming sports festival, we'll forcibly transfer him into the hero course."

The man frowned. "He could easily get into the top 3."

Nezu smirked. "He can if he  _tries_. Kaminari doesn't want to try. And even if he does get into the top 3, we can easily transfer him later on in the year. That's what happens to Gen-Ed winners anyway ."

"Why not just transfer him now?" Eraserhead asked.

Nezu almost cackled. "Kaminari is an intriguing character, I want to see how far I can push his limits." ' _I'm sure the boy will come up with some amusing response.'_ he added silently.

* * *

" _NII-SAN!"_

Eri raced through the hospital doors, greeting the overly-bandaged boy with a hug.

Denki grinned and ruffled her hair. "Nice to see you too, Eri-chan."

Aizawa grumbled at them, bandaged fingers rapping against a steering wheel.. "Oi, quit waffling about, time is precious."

Denki huffed good-naturedly and lifted Eri onto his waist, carrying her to the car Aizawa was waiting in. "I didn't know mummies were allowed to drive," he asked jokingly.

"You have no right to talk," the man shot back.

Denki snorted. "I'm in A+ health compared to you."

"Hmph."

* * *

" _Ah-hem."_ Kurama cleared his throat.

The other Biju looked up at him from their various spots around the Base.

"We're doing a chakra check," he announced, "I've got about 75%."

"60."

"72."

"79."

"68."

"63."

"74."

"62."

"Shukaku?"

"...49."

Matatabi snorted, twisting around to leer at the racoon."No surprise there, you were throwing your chakra around like it was  _nothing_."

Shukaku huffed, turning away from the cat. "And? Who cares? I don't even like this stupid dimension?"

Matatabi sneered at him. "What exactly do  _you_ have to return back home. Your precious  _Jinchuriki_. Oh, wait. Nevermind, you left him."

Shukaku growled, face swiveling back towards the cat. "At least mine's still alive, where's yours? Dead."

Matatabi stood up and glared at him, "Don't you dare bring Nii into this."

Shukaku stood up as well. "You should have thought about that before you brought up Gaara."

The two Biju glared at each other, a powerful pulse of chakra coming off them both.

Kurama got up and smashed their heads together, scowling as they both winced and rubbed their heads. "No. Fighting."

The pair glared at him.

"Mind your own business," Matatabi growled.

"Bit late to start playing older brother, Kurama." Shukaku sneered.

Kurama sighed. ' _I guess this is what happens when you don't talk to your sibling for a couple centuries. Things get a bit tense.'_

He watched the two continue to squabble, and sighed again. ' _At least it's kind of funny.'_

* * *

"Why are we living at UA now?" Eri asked, tiny hand firmly clasped in Denki's as he pulled her along through the school.

' _So they can protect you better.'_ Denki silently answered.

"Safety measures," Aizawa gruffly replied, leading through the maze of a school.

"Ohhh," she grinned, "sounds  _fun!"_

Denki shared none of her excitement, wilting slightly as he stared at the now extremely secure building. ' _Well, there goes my late night adventures,'_ he paused, ' _the long ones anyway.'_ Denki sighed. ' _How troublesome.'_

* * *

Shouta stared at the two sleeping kids, who were clambered on top of each other on  _his_ bed. He would have kicked them off if they hadn't looked so peaceful. Eri looked relaxed in a way he had never seen before. Probably because her nightmares had been killed. Literally.

And Kaminari, well, Kaminari looked as uptight as usual. Despite the seemingly harmless sleeping position, Shouta could see the way the boy had angled himself. Kaminari had placed himself in a position where he could easily grab Eri and move, a fighter's position.

Looking at him now, Shouta could see the logic in the Principal's idea. Kaminari wasn't a bad kid, he just needed to be steered a bit more firmly onto the right path.

* * *

"I was saved by 9 mutant vigilantes."

Demki glanced at Eri. They were sitting alone in Aizawa's dorm, him with his porn and her with her colouring books. "What?" He asked in confusion.

"I was saved by 9 mutant vigilantes," she repeated, tongue outstretched as she shaded Twilight Sparkle's trunk.

He frowned. ' _What does she-'_

' _Oh.'_

"Right," he grinned, " _only_ 9 mutant vigilantes."

Eri smiled, messily outlining Rainbow Dash's mane. "Yup, only 9 mutant vigilantes."

* * *

Izuku had been walking to homeroom, two days after the USJ attack, when he finally spotted  _him_. "AH! IT'S YOU!"

The masked boy, Kaminari he remembers, turned to him. "Ah," the boy replied, with a significant lack in enthusiasm, "it's you."

Izuku could feel himself flushing, hands already starting to twidle by his sides. "I-ah, are you a-alright? I mean, I know we don't know each other that well, but-er, we, I mean as in our class, were wondering, if, you know, you were...fine?"

Izuku was rambling now and, despite the absence of expression, he was certain the boy was laughing at him."

"I'm not dying or anything, if that's what you were worried about." The boy smiled slightly, he looked amused by Izuku.

Izuku flustered for something to reply with. "Ah, ok. That's...good?" If that wasn't awkward, he didn't know what was.

The boy studied Izuku for a second, before giving him a nod and continuing on his original path. "I'll see you around then," he held out his hand in a casual wave.

Izuku stared at the retreating figure. ' _How...cool.'_ Izuku clenched his fists.

He could still remember that fight between Kaminari and the Nomu. It was terrifying, watching something so real happen so close. But Kaminari had handled it like a pro. Izuku wondered how the boy  _hadn't_ gotten into the Hero-Course. Smart, strong, level-headed, the boy ticked all the boxes. Izuku doubted even Kacchan could beat him.

' _One day,'_ he promised himself, 'one day,  _I'll be as strong as him.'_

* * *

Hitoshi was waiting for Kaminari in homeroom, everyone in the class was. They had all seen the news, heard the rumours. A Gen-Ed student had been kidnapped. A student whose identity, while not revealed by the media, had been pried from the mouths of 1-A.

Kaminari Denki, a boy with an electricity Quirk.

Hitoshi had seen the injuries the 1-A students carried, seen the wounds of the teachers. He  _knew_  that whatever happened at USJ must have been terrifying, traumatizing even, for its victims.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a spark of envy towards them.

The media had practically slathered the students in complainants. ' _Oh how brave they must have been',_ or, ' _those students certainly held their own, I'm sure we'll have fine heroes in our future.'_

It wasn't fair. 1-A had done  _nothing_  to deserve those praises, they'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. What about all the hardships  _Hitoshi_  had faced, he didn't see anyone calling him a hero for enduring  _them_.

Of course, Hitoshi realized his thinking was irrational. Those students hadn't  _asked_  to be praised, the media was just blowing everything out of proportion because UA was involved. Hitoshi was just annoyed at Kaminari. The boy was  _already_  powerful,  _already_  smart,  _already_ perfect. And now he had the hero's attention. Hitoshi was sure, his whole class was sure, that at this rate, only Kaminari would have any shot at transferring into the Hero-Course.

And that made Hitoshi's heart  _burn_.

* * *

If his class hadn't hated Denki before he was sure they did now. Not one person spoke to him in homeroom. They all made sure to take a  _good_ look at him, but not a word escaped their mouths.

1-C was trying to alienate him. Not on purpose, Denki doubted some of them realized what they were doing, but as an obstacle to the majority of the class's 'goal', he had been labelled an enemy.

It was kind of funny. No one seemed to realise that more than one person could transfer courses.

Kaminari liked the peace and quiet though, so he kept that little piece of information to himself.

* * *

Eri had only 'lived' at UA for one day and she already loved it. She liked wandering around the school the most, though now they made someone accompany her.

Most of the time, that someone was Nii-san but when he had other stuff she got put with this girl named Akari.

Akari was nice, a bit quiet, but nice. She ruffled her hair like Nii-san did, brought her apples, and even braided her hair.

Once, at lunch, Akari got really annoyed and started shouting a lot. She said a lot of rude words. Not at her. No, it was at other people, because they said something mean about Eri.

Eri didn't know what they said.

Afterwards, Akari apologised and brought her an apple. So Eri didn't mind.

Nii-san didn't like Akari. Nii-san didn't hate Akari either. He just stayed away from her a lot. And never looked at her face. He would always pull her away from Akari. When she told Aizawa-san, he said Nii-san was being a 'possessive little brat'. Eri didn't know what that meant.

But all things aside, Eri liked UA a lot.

She just wished Nii-san did too.

* * *

"How was school?"

"Terrible," Kaminari said bluntly from his position on Shouta's couch. Eri was with Sasagawa, so was just Kaminari and him in the mini-apartment.

Shouta snorted, sorting through pieces of paper, before frowning. "Heard from Nemuri that you got the silent treatment from the class."

Kaminari snickered. "Good use that did. It's like ignoring me will miraculously transfer them into the Hero-Course."

Shouta huffed, picking out the paper he was looking for. ' _Thank god he has thick skin.'_ "Right, about the Hero-Course. If you don't make it into the top 3 of the upcoming Sports Festival, the Principal's making you transfer in with 1-A."

Kaminari practically sprung off the couch, glaring at him. "What! Why?"

Shouta frowned, bringing out a pen. ' _Does he not realise how terrifying his actions were at USJ.'_ "The Nomu," he said, " you tried to kill it. That sort of behaviour can't go unchecked."

Kaminari looked away. "Oh," he answered, his voice now adopting a guilty tone, "right."

Shouta studied the boy. ' _So he has reflected on his actions. That's a good sign'_ "Do you feel bad?" He asked.

Kaminari fidgeted. "Yeah, I-I mean, it's just that you were injured, and, and, I-I thought you were going to  _die._ So I just went up...and..."

Shouta softened his gaze slightly. "It's fine, the circumstances were special. You just didn't seem that affected after the incident."

Kaminari gave him a tired eye-smile. "It took a while to hit me," the boy paused, "is this, is this going on my record?"

Shouta sighed. "No, the circumstances were special," he hesitated, putting down his pen, "have you ...have you ever killed anyone before."

"..."

The boy was silent and Shouta tried to backtrack. "Look, it's fine I-"

"I hadn't meant too," came the quiet reply.

Shouta stared at the boy, holding out his hands in coaxing manner.

"I-I," Kaminari took a deep breath, aligning it with Shouta's hand movements, "I had just gotten my Quirk, and, well, I didn't know how to control it ...I-I was just hugging them, both of them, and then they, and then they just  _fell._  I had no idea what to do. S-So I ran and, and, and-"

"...who are they?" Shouta asked hesitantly.

Kaminari buried his face into his hands, answering in a soft voice. " _My parents."_

* * *

"I see."

Nezu continued to sip his tea, pushing his paperwork to the side. He nodded at the hero."Thank you for telling me this, Eraserhead."

The man gruffed and left the office.

Nezu sighed. It was an interesting revelation. Kaminari had killed his parents. Or at least. Left them in a comatose state, which was as good as dead in this case. It was certainly interesting. On one hand, it could simply be a terrible point of the boy's life. Sad, tragic, and traumatizing. But on the other hand, from Eraserhead's recount, it seemed as if the boy had used the revelation to redirect the flow of conversation. The man hadn't pressed the boy any further, and Kaminari never fully answered the question.

Interesting, it was certainly interesting.

* * *

Denki was in a sour mood, and could be found sulking in his 'room'.

For one, now he had to actually  _try_ to look like he was trying at the sports festival. Or they'd transfer him to the hero course, and Denki did  _not_ want to get any extra attention on him, but that was exactly what the Principal was trying to force on him. Even if he  _did_  get into the top 3, the mouse could still force him into the Hero-Course, so either way, it was a loss for him.

On top of that, he had to reveal the real Denki's past and force himself to have a mental breakdown, though that was actually pretty easy. All he had to do was picture Rin.

At least Denki had kind of assuaged their fears of him being a heartless killer, well, Aizawa's at least. The Principal had probably seen right through his little pity party.

It was really annoying how Aizawa seemed to report everything to the rodent. Kaminari guessed it was because the mouse took some sick pleasure in 'decoding' him.

Oh well. Denki had decided long ago that he hated UA.

* * *

 


	14. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hnmbmbjkh

* * *

 

This was it. This was Hitoshi's moment to shine.

He clenched his fists as he walked through the streets of Musutafu. School was over, Hitoshi was on his way home.

' _The UA Sports Festival.'_

The festival was in two weeks and it was the perfect opportunity to finally get noticed, to finally one-up those 1-A bastards. After all, this exam involved  _people_.  _People_ who could be brainwashed.

_***** _ _boom_ _***** _

Hitoshi paused from his thoughts, turning just in time to see a flash of light coming from a beach. ' _Huh,'_  he thought, ' _wasn't that place a dump before?'_ Hitoshi moved closer to the noise, spotting a figure in the sands.

He squinted, recognising the familiar outline. ' _Isn't that...Kaminari?'_

* * *

Denki stared dumbly at the odd clump of sand surrounding the lump of metal.

' _ **Fulgurites**_   _(from the Latin fulgur, meaning "lightning") are natural tubes, clumps, or masses of sintered, vitrified, and/or fused soil, sand, rock, organic debris and other sediments that can form when lightning discharges into the ground.'_

' _Well,'_  he thought, hand coming to scratch his head in surprise, ' _that wasn't what I was expecting.'_ To be honest, Denki hadn't really been expecting anything, he didn't think his electricity would be hot enough to do anything drastic. ' _Guess the chakra mutation gave the Quirk more power than I thought.'_ He mused.

Denki paused, ears perking up at the sound of footsteps. ' _Someone's coming.'_ He kicked the formation into the sea, just in time for a familiar figure to approach him.

' _Ah,'_  his eyes widened in recognition, ' _it's the Yamanaka-rip-off.'_ "Yo," he greeted, giving the boy his usual salute, "what brings you to Dagobah Beach?"

The boy tsched in return, "that noise and light," Shinsou asked bluntly, " was it you?"

Denki gave him his  _totally-not-fake_ smile. "Of course not."

The boy stared at him, unrelenting. "It was you."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't."

" _Yes_ , it was."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it was-" The Yamanaka-rip-off glared at him, teeth audibly clenching.

Denki sighed, holding out his hands in a  _what-can-you-do_  sort of way. "If you're so sure of my answer, then why ask?"

The boy continued to glare and Denki just shrugged. "Suit yourself," he turned to leave,

"I'm going."

"WAIT!"

Denki stared at Shinsou blankly. "Yes?"

"Can you," the boy gritted his teeth, "can you...help me train? For the sports festival."

Denki sweatdropped. "Ah."

' _Shit.'_

* * *

Hitoshi didn't know what he was expecting from Kaminari. A no, probably. Hell, he had no idea why he even asked the boy to train him. Hitoshi supposed that some part of him acknowledged Kaminari. That he was strong, stronger than him. Kaminari may have never outwardly shown his strength, but his achievements were proof enough. He had fought in the villain attack, played an important role in it, if the rumours were anything to go by. Kaminari, for all his many masks, was strong. And Hitoshi wanted in on some of that strength.

That blast had also definitely come from Kaminari, his Quirk most likely. But Hitoshi could also see the sweat glistening on his face, muscles bulging from his arms.

Training. Physical Training. Something he never really took seriously.

But seeing how strong Kaminari was…

"Well?" He asked impatiently, tapping a foot on the sand. ' _He's going to say no.'_

"Well…" The boy replied hesitantly.

' _Definitely a no.'_

Kaminari sighed. "Fine."

Hitoshi blinked in surprise. "Huh."

* * *

If anything, Denki blamed Naruto. The boy would most definitely whine at him if he could hear his thoughts, but the fact was, pretty much every strange sway of Kakashi's heart was almost always the blondes fault.

At least, that was what Denki told himself. He didn't want people to think he was getting  _soft._  Naruto would never let him hear the end of it.

"I-I…t-thanks." Shinsou stuttered, apparently unbelieving of answer. He took a few steps back, probably to let it sink in. Not everyone could handle Denki's magnificence after all.

He gave the boy an eye-smile. "Meet me here straight after-school tomorrow."

With that final statement, Denki disappeared, leaving Shinsou with his mouth gaping open.

"What?"

* * *

Hitoshi could feel his eyebrows twitching as he stood stiffly on the shore of Dagobah Municipal Beach Park.

Kaminari was late, and he didn't seem to care the slightest.

"Ah well you see," the boy 'explained', hands moving in over-the-top gestures, "I came across this old lady on my way here and I-"

"Save the excuses for an idiot," Hitoshi cut him off, scowling. "What are we doing now?" He didn't mention the swell of resentment and disappointment that had elapsed him when Kaminari hadn't shown for the first two hours.

"So," the boy clapped his hands together, grinning in a way so sweet it was poison, "we'll start off with laps. Get some stamina built up."

Hitoshi blinked. "Huh."

' _I seem to be doing that a lot.'_

* * *

' _Ah, this brings back memories.'_

Watching his 'students' suffer always gave Denki a sick sort of pleasure. The sweat gushing from their foreheads, the evil glares shot at him, degrading curses at the tip of their tongues. It brought back so many fond memories.

"You _-pant-_ You  _BASTARD!"_

Ah, his dear 'student' was complaining again.

Denki waggled his finger at Shinsou, not even sitting up from the hammock he resting in. "Now, now, if you have the energy to talk you have the energy to run, chop-chop, move it."

Shinsou gave him the dirtiest look ever. "I HATE YOU!"

Denki pretended to snicker at the book he was reading.

"AND STOP READING THAT STUPID PORN!"

* * *

After one day of training, Hitoshi could proudly say he hated Kaminari Denki. Not the petty hate most of his class displayed, but the  _you-piece-of-shit_ hate that the boy was often the subject of.

But Hitoshi was also a rational person. He  _knew_  both his physical stamina and strength were lacking, he  _knew_  that Kaminari's 'training', while painful, would be extremely helpful.

Kaminari was just a little prick about it.

* * *

Days of training went by, and Denki could safely call Shinsou his friend without getting smacked by a book. Not that the book actually ever hit him, it actually turned out to be a great training exercise. However, despite the easy love-hate relationship they had developed outside of school, class was as stiffening as ever, especially with tensions against 1-A rising. The divide between those with 'convenient' Quirks and those without was getting more and more prominent. Shinsou had even taken the lead in the 'battle' against 1-A, something he didn't exactly approve of.

"Heard you gave 1-A a declaration of war."

Shinsou glared at Denki from his desk. It was just them in the classroom.

The boy sneered at him, turning away to not look him in the eye. "You got a problem with it?" He snarked.

Denki studied the boy, scowling, before standing up and placing himself in front of the other boy. He leaned onto Shinsou's desk. " _They're just a bunch of lucky idiots who happened to be attacked by villains,"_ he said in a mocking voice, " _they're nobody special. If_ _ **I**_   _had a combat-oriented quirk I could have fought_ _ **just**_ _as well."_

Shinsou flinched, recoiling as if he had slapped him.

Denki sighed, straightening up with a hand placed on his hip. "That's what you were thinking, right?"

Shinsou stood up. "Well, it's  _true,'_ he argued hotly. "And  _you_ can't say anything, you're  _just_  as blessed as  _they_ are!"

Denki raised an eyebrow, bring a hand up to flick the boy in the forehead. "Just as people shouldn't judge you based on your quirk, you shouldn't judge others based on theirs," he sighed, "a good quirk doesn't give someone a free pass through all the troubles in life."

Shinsou scoffed. "That's not what society says-"

"Quirk-trafficking, Quirk Marriages," he listed, "as well as uncontrollable Quirks, Quirks that damage health and Quirks that make others fearful. There is both a good and bad side to everything."

Shinsou scowled at his argument, dropping back onto his seat and turning his face to the side. He didn't look him in the eye.

Denki sighed. "I won't deny that certain Quirks make certain goals easier, but," he smiled. "think about it."

Denki left the room.

* * *

Shouta scanned his chattering class, eyes stopping at the person he needed to talk too. "Sasagawa," he instructed, "come here."

The girl glanced up from her conversation with Bakugou in surprise, eyes flickering towards him in confusion. She got up and made her way towards him, tilting her head slightly. "Yes, Sensei?"

He gestured for the girl to come with him, as he exited the classroom. "Follow me."

She hurried along to keep up, walking slightly behind him as Shouta led them to the Medical Room. He pointed to the office's door. "This is Recovery Girl's office, she has something to discuss with us," he paused, "well, you."

Sasagawa's eyes widened slightly, in realization, Shouta guessed, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. He pushed open the door.

Recovery Girl greeted them with a smile, hopping of the chair she had been seated in and waving them over. "Ah, good. You're here." She motioned for them to sit.

Once they were both settled she began to speak. "I'm sure you have some sort of idea on what this is about." Her eyes flickered to Sasagawa.

She nodded. "My Quirk, it can heal."

Recovery dipped her head in approval. "Yes, and it appears to be stronger than mine. So, if you and your homeroom teacher agrees, I'd like to run some tests to see its potential. Powerful Healing Quirks are quite rare. There are some people who would very much benefit from it."

Sasagawa clenched her fist as the woman said that, face tensed in indescriptible way.

Shouta frowned at her reaction, before narrowing his eyes at the woman's wording, comprehension dawning on him. ' _All Might,'_ he realized, ' _she wants to see if Sasagawa can heal All Might.'_

Sasagawa's gaze veered towards him, eyes doubtful but clear of the previous irritation.

"Do whatever you want," Shouta gruffed, shrugging slightlly.

She glanced back at Recovery Girl, fidgeting slightly, before saying slowly. "...depends on what the tests are."

Shouta hummed quietly, ' _her Quirk does require some intimacy,'_ he mused.

Recovery Girl smiled reassuringly and nodded. "We won't push you to do anything you're uncomfortable with," she promised.

Sasagawa still seemed hesitant. "...ok," she agreed in a quiet voice.

Recovery Girl beamed at her. "Wonderful, you both can go back to class."

Shouta nodded at the nurse, grabbed Sasagawa, and left.

* * *

"They're going to test your Quirk?"

Akari smiled at Eri. They were both walking through the gardens of UA.

"Yup!" She replied cheerfully.

Eri grinned. "That's  _sooo_ cool!" She paused. "What's your quirk again?"

Akari giggled. "Healing," she answered, "I can heal people by kissing them."

" _Wooow,"_  Eri marvelled, eyes gleaming, "that's so amazing," Eri held out her hand, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, " _heal me, heal me_!"

Akari bent down and poked her in the forehead. "You have to be injured to be healed, silly"

Eri pouted. "But I want to be healed," she whined, before pausing for a second. "Hey," she asked, "Akari-san, can you heal scars?"

The girl in question stared at her in confusion. "I can fade them.." She trailed off, frowning, "why?"

Eri grinned, pushing up her sleeves and holding out her arms. They were littered with marred and discoloured dots of skin.

"Then you can heal  _mine!"_ Eri responded cheerfully, before pausing to glance at Akari's face. "Akari-san? You look sad."

Akari shook her head, giving the girl a weak smile. "No, I'm fine. I'll...fade your scars."

Akari kneeled down, gently clasping onto Eri's hair and lightly pressing her lips on the girl's. A burst of blue light emerged at the contact, circling around Eri before fading into her arms and legs. Akari looked at the little girl regretfully. "Oh, Eri-chan."

Eri looked thrilled at her almost blemish-free skin. "It's like  _magic,_ " she gushed, before glancing at Akari. "You look even sadder now," she frowned, "what's wrong?"

Akari hugged Eri. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

' _I'm so sorry'_

* * *

Odd clumps of sand and metal were scattered around Dagobah beach, at the centre of the mess, laid Denki.

' _So the range can be increased. This Quirk behaves less like electricity and more like lightning chakra.'_ He slowly sat up, resting a chin on a leg he pulled up. Denki hummed thoughtfully, ' _if it has the same strengths as chakra, then does it have the same weaknesses?'_

An issue with Kakashi's previous skillset had been the amount of chakra he had. It was by no means low, but it would never come close to the reserves of someone like Naruto, because of that, many of his 'killer' techniques could scarcely be used.

He hummed, digging his chin deeper into his knee. ' _I haven't continuously used my Quirk yet.'_

Denki flared electricity around him.

' _Let's see how long I can last.'_

* * *

Shouta frowned as he rubbed Kaminari's back, who was throwing up in the toilet.

"How did you even end up like this?" He asked.

Kaminari gave him a weak shrug, shuffling back to Shouta's bed.

Shouta sighed. Finding Kaminari practically crawling back to school had not been an exciting experience. The boy had looked frighteningly pale and had vehemently protested against any trip to Recovery Girl, forcing Shouta to drag him towards their apartment.

He glanced back at the boy, who had curled himself up in a mountain of blankets.

Half-lidded eyes turned to him. "Tell Shinsou I can't meet him today," Kaminari mumbled.

"Shinsou?" Shouta frowned, recognising the name, "from Gen-Ed?"

All he got in response was a snore. Shouta sighed, shuffling out his apartment with a groan. ' _Who knew he had friends?'_

* * *

Hitoshi had been surprised, to say the least, when a Hero-Course teacher had called him over and told him that Kaminari couldn't meet him today

Aizawa-sensei, one of the heroes who was at USJ and the homeroom teacher of 1-A. How on earth Kaminari got that man to deliver a message to him baffled him. But, that aside, Aizawa-sensei seemed like a pretty chill hero. Laid back, uncaring, and overall pretty cool.

He was the kind of hero Hitoshi wanted to be.

* * *

Denki's Quirk had a limit, going past that limit would make him sick and tired. In Shinobi terms, he could say he had above average chakra levels. Nowhere near Naruto or Sasuke, but more than what Denki had before. Though, his previously low chakra levels  _could_ be blamed on his Sharingan.

He could work with it, Denki had decided.

He sighed, as only a slight breeze answered his thoughts. Denki was pretty much alone at Dagobah Beach, since, Shinsou had left a while ago, content with the new knowledge of basic fighting techniques. He had plenty of time to work on his taijutsu stuff now, which were, by Shinobi standards, not that great at the moment.

Denki had already come to the expected conclusion of deterioration when he first came to this world. A 14-year-old body simply could not cope with moves he had wanted to pull off. His accuracy with kunai hadn't regressed, thankfully. But he, as Gai would say, lacked the ' _Power of Youth'._

A couple of months of rigorous training, however, helped build his body to a good condition. The fact that the previous  _Denki_ had already been quite fit had helped.

Of course, this bodies strength had to be maintained, and there was still a matter of re-applying his old techniques to this body. Denki couldn't exactly reinforce it with chakra as he used too.

In conclusion, he wasn't, and will likely never be, as strong as he used to be. It stung, but it was the reality at the moment.

' _Besides,'_  Denki consoled himself, ' _everyone else is weak as well.'_

* * *

Hitoshi moved in for another punch, dodging Kaminari's kick and ducking down to the boy's solar plexus.

" _Got you now!"_ He exclaimed. Before Hitoshi could even get close, Kaminari knocked his legs with a firm kick, tripping him into the sand.

Kaminari crinkled his eyes. "Not quite." The boy held out his hand towards him.

Hitoshi grimaced but grabbed on, letting the boy haul him up.

Kaminari gave him his signature eye-smile. "Congratulations," he smiled, "you're officially stronger than you were a week ago, thanks to me of course."

Hitoshi snorted but didn't reply. It was, technically, because of the boy he improved so much. Not that he'd admit it.

"Well," Kaminari put a hand on his shoulder, grinning as he did, "I've taught you all that I possibly can in the span of a week. You should train by yourself during the next week."

Hitoshi froze. ' _Right,'_  he thought, ' _I'm not the only one who needs to train.'_ He took a deep breath, "thanks," he said, smiling slightly, "for everything."

Kaminari eye-smiled back. "No problem."

With that final statement, the boy disappeared, only leaving a spark of gold as any trace of his presence. Hitoshi sighed, scratching his head, as he muttered, "so dramatic."

* * *

Nezu sipped his tea contently in his office. The Sports Festival was going as planned, USJ had been repaired and the legal issues, taken care of. Eri had more protection than half the school combined, leaving the only issue he had yet to solve, the new vigilante group that had popped up; The Biju.

Who they were was a total mystery; the only information gleaned by the police were that all members seemed to have a mutant quirk that let them take on the characteristics of various animals.

An interesting group of individuals who, for seemingly no rhyme or reason, completely destroyed an upcoming Yakuza power.

It was curious, very curious.

* * *

"A psychologist?"

Shouta nodded. He and Kaminari were sitting alone in his apartment, Eri had disappeared off with Sasagawa, giving the pair some privacy.

"You haven't exactly had the...easiest life," Shouta pointed out, "it'll be good for you."

Kaminari frowned, hands crossed over his chest as he pouted. "Was this the Principal's idea?'

Shouta sighed hand coming to rest against his temple, "no, it was mine."

"Oh." The boy seemed cowed at that. Shouta wondered what he had against the Principal.

"So?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kaminari sighed, crossing his hands tighter as he gave in. "Sure," he pouted, "I guess."

"Good," Shouta stood up, traces of a smile curling at the corner of his lips, "your first appointment is in two hours. Get ready."

"WHAT!" The boy sputtered.

* * *

Tsukasa Hiro prided himself on being a first-class psychologist. No case was ever too difficult for him, no case was ever impossible for him. That was his philosophy, that was his motto. It was what attracted customers around the world to him, no case was a hopeless one oncehe was involved.

That was, until, he met Kaminari Denki.

Not saying Kaminari was a difficult person, well, he was, but not in the crazy axe murderer way. Kaminari was just the sort of person who seemed to get under your skin, twisting your thoughts and feelings.

Hiro was yet to figure out if the boy did it intentionally or not, perhaps manipulation was just on of his characteristics he'd grown up with? It wasn't like Kaminari seemed used them in a malicious way, it was just curious that they had somehow started their session with a discussion about Kaminari's feelings and ended it with an argument about Hiro's cat. The flow of conversation had been turning so fast Hiro barely had time to grip onto it before being forced along. He hadn't even realised 'till after the session was over! This meeting was a definite black mark on his impeccable record.

Hiro sighed, swiveling around on his chair. Kaminari Denki was certainly an interesting, if not frustrating, person.

* * *

" _Tomura, you've recovered at last."_

The hand-villain was standing in an empty bar, glaring at the screen as it spoke. Sitting at the bar next to him, was a hooded figure and Kurogiri. Both of them eyed the pair from their peripheral vision.

" _The Phoenix has agreed,"_  the screen tilted towards the hidden figure, who shifted nervously in response, " _seal the deal with him,_ _ **Caduceus**_ _, I'm sure you've had time to prepare by_ _ **now**_ _."_

The figure flinched, cloak shaking slightly, as they bowed their head respectfully."Yes,  _Sensei_."

" _Good. Tomura, you arrange the rest."_

The hand-villain nodded. "Of course,  _Sensei."_

The screen turned black.

* * *

"The goods, I have them."

Denki frowned at the scruffy man standing in front of him. They were standing in a dingy alleyway, the sun had long since scurried away, leaving the clouds crying at its departure.

He crossed his arms, ignoring the pelting rain, "Give me the stuff and  _then_  I'll pay you."

The man grinned, caressing the package in his hand. "Well," he sighed, almost regretfully if it weren't for that glint in his eyes, "this  _is_ quite valuable. But I'm afraid the cash comes fir-"

The man collapsed, a spark of electricity dancing on the back of the man's neck.

Denki bent down and pried the box from the man's fingers.

He sighed, tucking the package away, "you made it harder on yourself," he frowned, "I would've given you the money." Denki stepped over the corpse, ambling in the direction of Kaede's house. "Thanks for the business," he muttered.

* * *

"I'm  _bored."_

Kurama snorted, magazine covering half as he lounged on the couch. "Then go out and kill someone, no one cares what you do, stupid racoon."

"But my  _chakra,_ " Shukaku whined, pouting as he curled up into a ball on the floor.

Matatabi scoffed, buffing her claws and preening at them, "I thought you didn't care about your chakra, Mr  _I-hate-this-stupid-dimension._ "

Shukaku scowled. "I don't. But I also don't want to be the  _first_ to leave."

She huffed, retracting her claws and turning to glare at the raccoon. "Then that's your fault for being an idiot with your chakra."

"...I'm  _bored."_

Kurama only sighed.

* * *

Kaede studied the bottle in Denki's hand. They were at her apartment, a cloud of smoke enclosing them from their surroundings.

"So this is the famous drug,  _Trigger."_ She sighed, resting a hand on her hip and looking at Denki critically, "these have been produced in America, right?"

Denki nodded, setting himself down on the floor. "They have."

Kaede-san stared at him for a couple seconds, before snatching the box out of his hands and tossing him a piece of paper.

"I'll believe you," she said, raising an eyebrow, "but only because I'm your boss. If these are fake I'm firing you."

"Ah, about that." Denki eye-smiled, getting up from where he was squatting,"I quit."

Kaede sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Oh well, figured it was about time. You've expended your use for me, haven't you," she smirked. "You've already gained both information and trust from an information broker, me."

Denki gave her a crooked smile. "As observant as always, Kaede-san."

She snorted, waving her hand at him. "Begone, I'll hunt you down later if these are fake."

He gave her a small salute and left.

* * *

_Phoenix: The Immortal Villain_

_Phoenix was once a widely regarded villain before the age of heroes. He possessed a quirk that gave him the qualities of a phoenix, most notably, immortality._

_Phoenix fell from power when the villain,_ _**All for One** _ _, emerged. It was rumored that, while the villain's quirk granted him immortality, he was unable to heal himself, only others._

_Phoenix is suspected to still be alive, barely._

_Apart from healing and regenerative abilities, Phoenix's combat abilities remain unknown. Though he is suspected to have fire-related powers._

_The current location of the Phoenix is unknown._

* * *

 


	15. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hu t5ujn

* * *

 

 _The_ _ **U.A. Sports Festival**_   _(_ _雄ゆう英えい体たい育いく祭さい_ _Yūei Taiikusai_ _ **?**_ _) is an annual event held by U.A. High School where students from all grades and courses have the opportunity to showcase their abilities in different competitions in order to be scouted by Pro-Heroes'_

"AND REPRESENTING THE STUDENTS, BAKUGOU KATSUKI FROM CLASS 1-A."

The energy of Midnight's announcement practically bounced through the stadium, inciting waves of applause from the audience.

Hitoshi sneered at the boy strutting onto the stage. Bakugou Katsuki, he'd heard about him, seen him around the school. Loud, explosive, and violent. Everything a hero shouldn't be, but here he was, number one in the UA Hero Entrance Exam. The poster-boy of  _all_  UA freshmen.

' _Can you really look at this, Kaminari, and say that Combat Quirks don't make life easy. This kid has had practically everything handed to him on a silver platter, society was well and truly eager to shove his life's good fortune in everyone's face.'_

Mutters circulated around Hitoshi.

"Tsch, this guy finished first in the  _Hero_ -Course, didn't he?"

"Why do the hero-wannabes get to represent  _all_  of us?"

"Because that's how society works, heroes get preference for  _everything._ "

' _And it's not just me, everybody knows this.'_

"Ah-hem _,"_ the boy on stage cleared his throat.

' _Ah. Here it comes.'_

"I pledge...to be number one."

Hitoshi could only describe the student's reaction as to how one would a cold. At first, you brush the first few signs off as petty nuisances. But when the actual symptoms come to bite you in the back, you find yourself highly irritated and annoyed. This was the student's reaction to their 'representative'. They had all known what he was like, the boy had gained quite the reputation, but hearing and experiencing the sheer arrogance were on two whole different levels of vexation.

He could hear Kaminari snickering next to him, probably at sheer overconfidence Bakugou displaye-

"How on  _earth_  did you sneak  _porn_ onto a  _BROADCASTED_ competition?"

Kaminari peeked up at him from his garish orange literature, motioning with his eyebrows to their host.

Hitoshi glanced back on stage. Midnight was holding her microphone suspiciously close to her cleavage.

' _Why am I not surprised?'_

"NOW, HERE IS THE FATEFUL FIRST EVENT."

Thousands of eyes poured onto the holographic slot machine behind the R-Rated Hero.

'OBSTACLE RACE'

* * *

"Ooooh, an  _Obstacle Race!"_

"What sort of  _lucky_  race is that?"

"A race with obstacles, I believe."

"Shouldn't we be researching  _Phoenix?_  You know, since we have that information Kakashi gave us and-"

"Quiet, Isobu. We're  _trying_ to watch something here."

"I hope he kills someone."

"Shukaku…I'm honestly not even going to bother."

* * *

The first obstacle of the UA Obstacle Race; a...narrow tunnel?

Hundreds of students were clambered together, more tightly packed that tin of sardines. Hitoshi himself felt like his insides were being squeezed through his throat. Probably not a good sign.

' _Ok. Brainwashing. Do me seem some good.'_

He shook the person in front of him.

"Could you give me a hand?"

The boy turned to glance back at him.

"Wha-" His eyes glazed over.

" **Carry me** ," Hitoshi commanded.

He was hefted onto the boy's shoulders. Taking advantage of the tight space and sheer confusion, he managed to get a few others to join the ' _team'_. Hitoshi grinned as they reached the tunnel's exit.

" **Push forwa-** "

A blast of ice thrust through the narrow tunnel, encasing his henchman's feet, letting a half-albino sprint ahead. Shortly following him came various other students, all using their quirks to surge ahead.

' _And they're all in 1-A. This's a bit of a setback.'_

" **Get rid of the ice** ," he ordered, "  **and keep moving as fast as you can**."

His ' _team'_  did well on the first order, not so much the second.

' _We're going at a snail's pace,'_  Hitoshi glanced around him. Most people were still gingerly treading and slipping on the ice. He sighed. ' _At least we're not the only ones.'_

"How's the weather up there?"

Hitoshi looked down. Jogging beside him was Kaminari, who still had that same gaudy novel glued to his face.

"If you're able to run on the ice, you should be able to get ahead," he pointed out.

Kaminari shrugged, turning a page in his poor-excuse-of-a-book. "Where's the fun in that?" He raised his eyebrows at him. "You're not going to brainwash me?"

Hitoshi grimaced. "I've brainwashed you before and it did  _not_ work out." That had been a terrifying experience. Kaminari had broken out of his control immediately. When questioned, the boy had just muttered something about 'old wounds' and 'too much pain'. He didn't get much more out of him

Hitoshi sighed, and then sighed again at the shadow eclipsing him. In front of him stood giant sized machinery.

"Robots," he gritted, "of fucking course. UA gives us  _robots._  The massive, zero-pointers, at that."

Kaminari glanced up from his novel to study the machines.

"You're thinking about this the wrong way," the boy peered at him, "these things are  _just_ robots, they have nothing but pre-programmed commands to urge them. All you need is an opening. "

"An opening…" Hitoshi muttered.

The robots were getting defeated quite seamlessly by the powerful Quirk-wielders. Ice, explosions, even cannons. One by one, they were all starting to fall, two of them even fell in an angle that made a pathway.

"There you have it. An opening was made for you." Kaminari smirked. "Go for it."

Hitoshi gritted his teeth. " **RUN**!"

His little squad ran, pushing past the other contestants and into…

"THE FALL!" Present Mic boomed with obnoxious enthusiasm. "A CANYON THAT MUST BE TREKKED BY WALKING ON ROPES!"

Hitoshi grimaced at the ravine in front of him, then the flimsy wires that connected them. "Crap."

Kaminari only spared the obstacle a brief glance before staring at him. "What's the big deal? Surely one of your little servants has a useful quirk?"

He flushed. "I don't know their Quirks, and I can't make them tell me."

"Well, that was stupid."

"Shut up."

"Cheer up, you can just Brainwash another person with a convenient Quirk."

Hitoshi paused. "Yeah...I could." He scanned the students around him. Sure enough, a boy with wings was standing near him, about to take off. He walked up to the bird-boy and tapped him on the shoulders. "Hey," Hitoshi asked.

The winged-boy turned to him. "Yes-" His eyes glossed over.

" **Fly me past the canyons** ," Hitoshi ordered. The boy bent down in response, letting Hitoshi clamber onto his back. Once secure, he was flying quite swiftly across the ravine

"What about your other minions?" Kaminari commented. He himself was strutting across the rope hands-free, still managing to keep pace with Hitoshi's speedy chariot.

"I let them go. If they get their shit together fast enough, they might still make it."

Hitoshi's plan had gained him some decent ground, the only minus being he had to abandon his little team. But with the  _Fall_  complete all he had to do was get past the last obstacle.

"THE MINEFIELD," Present Mic's voice screeched through the speakers.

Hitoshi smiled. ' _Right, this is perfect, I can just fly through-'_

Just as the Minefield came into sight, the boy flying Hitoshi fell. The wings, it seemed, had a time-limit.

"Well. This is a pain." Hitoshi stated. The boy who had been carrying him looked confused, the pain of falling had woken him up. Hitoshi distanced himself before he could connect the dots.

"It is," Kaminari agreed. He glanced at him, before saying, " in any other situation, you'd probably have to do it the old fashioned way. If you did by yourself."

Hitoshi stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well," the boy grinned, "the top three are already too close to the finish line for you to snag one of their places. But there  _is_ a way for you to snag fourth.'

"What's that-"

Kaminari grabbed Hitoshi by the collar, letting golden sparks travel his arm and wheeling it back.

"By taking inspiration from Midoriya, of course."

And then Kaminari threw Hitoshi. All the way to the finish line.

All. The. Way.

To the outside eye, the throw was one too fast to catch. The only action one would be able to see was Kaminari grabbing Shinsou's collar. To the audience, Shinsou had just appeared in the air, a feat that was later blamed on Midoriya's stunt with explosions. In fact, the whole debacle was overshadowed by Midoriya's stunt. Him getting first meant more than Shinsou getting fourth, it seemed.

Hitoshi, somehow, had survived the throw with little more than a couple bruises. Somehow.

* * *

Shouta was groaning. On the inside and out.

Being the 'co'-commentator, he had been watching all footage of the first event. And even if he couldn't figure out  _how,_  he  _knew_  that Shinsou's sudden entrance into the air space had been Kaminari's fault. Shouta couldn't  _prove_  it, but he was sure of it. The whole debacle had Kaminari's name written all over it.

' _Oh well, if he gets any more strange ideas I'll just lock him up with his psychologist. He's actually trained to deal with this shit.'_

* * *

Hitoshi paced anxiously around the stadium. At least twenty people had arrived since him, and he  _still_  couldn't find Kaminari.

' _Where is he?'_

Two more people came through, then four, then five, then-

"KAMINARI!"

The boy  _jogged_  towards him,  _still_  reading that stupid novel, and gave him a little salute. "Yo, how was the ride?"

Hitoshi let out a mixture of a grimace and a laugh. "Painful."

Kaminari eye-smiled. "Good to hear."

As the two conversed, Hitoshi could hear whispers around echoing around him.

"Isn't that the big-shot from Gen-Ed? The one from USJ? Wasn't he supposed to be super strong or something?"

"Talk about a let-down."

"Here I was thinking he'd finally bring the other departments some limelight."

"Guess those USJ rumours were  _just_  rumours."

"Pathetic."

Hitoshi clenched his fists, ready to retort, but Kaminari put a hand on his shoulder.  _No,_ his eyes spoke.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE," Midnight announced, grabbing everyone's attention. " THOSE WHO CAME IN THE TOP 42, YOU MADE IT! AS FOR THE REST, WE HAVE PLENTY OF OTHER EVENTS FOR YOU TO SHINE. NOW, FOR THE SECOND EVENT. IT'S A..."

A holographic slot machine popped up behind her again.

'CAVALRY BATTLE'

Hitoshi narrowed his eyes. ' _There'll be a catch somewhere.'_

"EVERYONE WILL BE ASSIGNED POINTS BASED ON THEIR RANK, THE 42ND GETTING 5, AND THE 41ST GETTING 10, AND SO ON. THE FIRST PLACE WINNER, HOWEVER, WILL BE GETTING 10 MILLION POINTS."

' _Ah. The catch. How convenient for those at the bottom.'_

"THE CAVALRY BATTLE WILL BE 15 MINUTES, THE POINT VALUE OF THE TEAM WILL BE THE TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF POINTS. THE POINTS ARE SYMBOLISED BY HEADBANDS, THE PERSON WEARING ALL THE HEADBANDS WILL BE THE RIDER. HEADBANDS CAN ONLY BE WORN ON THE HEAD AND NECK. QUIRKS CAN BE USED, BUT NOT FOR MALICIOUS INTENT. IF A TEAM CRUMBLES OR LOSES THEY ARE NOT OUT OF THE GAME!" Midnight smirked. "YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES TO TEAM UP."

"Wanna team up?"

Hitoshi turned to Kaminari. "Sure, should we partner with anyone else?"

Kaminari shrugged. "You can if you want, it's 2-4 people per team. I don't really care."

' _Hmm, '_ Hitoshi pondered, ' _I could always just Brainwash someone. But it's a bit of a risk since, if they break out, they'll probably be a nuisance.'_

"Oi, can I join your team?"

Hitoshi glanced at the person asking. A girl, from 1-A, he believed. He turned to Kaminari but the boy didn't look up from his book, simply shrugging. Hitoshi sighed. "What's your quirk?"

"Healing," she answered.

' _A non-combat quirk. No wonder she asked us.'_

"Sure."

The girl grinned. "Sasagawa Akari, but you can call me Akari." She held out her hand, which Hitoshi shook.

"Glad to be working with you."

"AND TIMES UP, GET IN POSITIONS."

Kaminari finally shut his book. "Shinsou, you're the rider, I'll go front, Sasagawa goes at the back. Our total point value is 290, not enough to win by ourselves, so we'll have to steal points. Considering I'm the only one with a combat-oriented Quirk, we'll go for a subtle approach. Sasagawa and I are on the defensive, Shinsou can Brainwash someone at the last minute when most teams are knocked out. Ok?"

Hitoshi blinked. "O...ok ."

"Sure," Akari agreed.

They got into formation, and the battle began.

* * *

The Cavalry Battle was anti-climatic at best, in Akari's opinion. The only people really duking it out were the top contestants. Her team just stayed in the sidelines most of the time. If a team came close, Shinsou would just order them away or Kaminari would electrocute them. Akari's quirk was practically useless the whole time.

Their team didn't even bother accumulating points at the start, to  _avoid putting a target in our backs_ , according to Kaminari. The only move they made was stealing Team Tetsutetsu's headbands.

The only reason she had joined her team was Kaminari. Despite what Shinsou may have thought, people did find her Quirk useful, and teams  _had_  asked her to join. But Akari had no interest in the Sports Festival, glory was never the reason she came to UA. Akari was more interested in fellow classmates strengths. Kaminari, in particular. After all, he  _was_ the biggest mystery around. Everything about him was a question mark.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Kaminari had the same idea as her. Apart from minor shocks, he rarely used his Quirk. He had shown off a bit of his intellect, but that was it. Really, it made the whole thing a waste of her time. She would have just dropped out in the First Event if she knew this was going to happen, well, if  _they_  let her do that of course.

Regardless, she had done her part in the Second Event. Akari had by no means carried her team to third place, but she had provided a safety blanket that her teammates should be thankful for.

Eri would be sad when she forfeited the next round, but Akari didn't care herself. Recovery Girl had already agreed to take her on for an internship so that she could do those 'tests'.

At this point, Akari honestly didn't care. She was done with this.

* * *

"NOW WE'LL BE TAKING AN HOUR BREAK," Midnight declared, "FOR LUNCH BEFORE THE AFTERNOON'S FESTIVITIES, THE DRAWS FOR THE FINAL ROUND WILL BE DECIDED BEFORE THE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES."

Hitoshi sighed. "Well, that was fun." He turned to Akari. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't blab about my Quirk."

Akari fiddled with her shoulder-length hair. "No problem, I'm not particularly close with anyone from the Hero-Course."

Hitoshi smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Denki yawned. "Oi, Shinsou let's grab some grub, I wanna catch a nap before the finals."

The pair of boys walked to the cafeteria, Akari following closely behind them.

"Isn't eating right before sleeping bad for you?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Well, I'm telling you it's bad."

"And I'm telling you I don't care."

"It's your health on the line here."

"As I said before, I don't care."

"Suit yourselves."

Akari smiled slightly at the bickering pair. ' _They seem like good friends.'_

Just as they approached the cafeteria, a tiny figure ran up to them.

"NII-SAN!"

Eri threw herself at Denki, who spun her around before setting her down.

"Hello to you too, Eri-chan." He smiled.

The girl pulled her attention from Denki and onto Akari, running up and hugging her as well.

"AKARI-SAN TOO!"

The older girl ruffled her hair fondly.

"You have a little sister?"

Eri turned to Hitoshi, who seemed to cower slightly at the girl's stare.

"Are you Nii-san's friend?"

Hitoshi gulped and nodded, sending a dirty look at Denki, who was snickering.

"Hmmm." Eri bore into him. "You seem...ok." She gave him a thumbs up. "I approve."

"That's good, for a minute there our friendship was destined to end."

Hitoshi mock-glared at Denki. "You would give up our friendship if she said so?"

Denk nodded with all seriousness. "Of course."

"I feel offended."

"You should be."

Akari laughed, stroking Eri's hair. "You little demon, destroying people's friendships." The statement was said in a playful tone, but Eri paled drastically.

"N-No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean too, you don't have too.  _I'm sorry._ "

Denki pulled Eri towards him and hefted her up, rocking her slightly. "It's fine Eri, it's just a joke."

Akari backtracked on her statement almost immediately. "Y-Yeah, Eri, I'm sorry. It was just a joke. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it."

The girl only clutched tighter onto Denki, who just sighed. "I'll go find Aizawa. Shinsou, save me a seat."

Hitoshi blinked at him. "Ah. Sure."

Denki glared at Akari coldly, who paled. "I'll be off then."

"R-Right."

As soon as Denki left, Akari followed. Leaving Hitoshi alone and very confused.

' _What on earth just happened?"_

* * *

 


	16. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 7yrtfhgcb

Guilt. It was an emotion Akari was familiar with, especially with a Quirk like hers. Ever since she had gotten the stupid thing Akari had become that particular emotion's punching bag.

' _Heal my cousin. Heal my aunt. Heal my friend. With a Quirk like yours,_ _it's your_ ~~ _ **responsibility**_~~ _._ '

She hated her Quirk, despised her Quirk. If it wasn't for her stupid, self-sacrificing, power, she'd wouldn't be like this, she'd be happy, she wouldn't be  ~~ _stuck in-_~~

But this had nothing to do Akari's Quirk. This was her own stupid fault, a stupid slip of the tongue that had caused a little girl's break-down. Which, really, shouldn't be such a big deal because she had done much worse than petty insults  ~~ _but it still hurt why did it hurt so much._~~

 _Why did it hurt indeed_? Akari felt laughter bubble up inside of her. Because she knew why, even if a part of her denied it. Akari had grown attached to Eri. The little girl had evolved from the meaningless chore Aizawa had pushed onto her, into someone she cared about. It was why, despite all logic telling her not too, she chased after Kaminari. It was why she grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him to face her. It was why, despite her pride, she whispered  _sorry_. It was why she wondered when Kaminari gazed at her appraisingly. It was why she was so confused when Kaminari placed Eri into her arms

Because for all Akari loved Eri, she knew Kaminari loved her more.

* * *

Shouta had been concerned when Sasagawa ran up to him with a tearful Eri in her arms. He and Hizashi were in the staffroom, eating lunch, when the guilt-ridden girl had come up to him,.

"What happened?" He asked.

Sasagawa bit her lip. "I said something wrong and it...distressed her."

Shouta raised his eyebrows. Despite how downtrodden Sasagawa seemed, Eri appeared to have no issue with her, judging by the firm grip she clung on to her with.

"And Kaminari?" he questioned.

"He...left her with me."

Shouta hummed. That was curious, Kaminari was downright possessive most of the time. He sighed. "Thanks for bringing her here," Shouta paused, 'and whatever you said, it probably wasn't your fault, Kaminari can be...protective."

Sasagawa slowly placed Eri down, giving him a weak chuckle. "I noticed."

Shouta smiled slightly. "Well, he doesn't exactly hide it." Eri clambered onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Sasagawa huffed. "No, he really doesn't."

* * *

Hitoshi glared at Kaminari, who was taking his sweet time strolling through the cafeteria.

"What took you so long? And where's the little girl?"

Kaminari shrugged as he sat down on the seat Hitoshi saved. "Sasagawa has her."

Hitoshi raised his eyebrows. "Wasn't she the reason for that whole meltdown? Why'd you give the girl to her?"

"It wasn't intentional, and she seemed regretful."

"Then why'd you glare at her?"

Kaminari played with the food in front of him. The meal Hitoshi had saved. "I was annoyed," he answered deliberately, "but she didn't mean it. Besides, she's the only other female role model Eri has, not counting Midnight. I don't want to strain their relationship too much."

Hitoshi snorted. "Of course you had other objectives, apart from ' _she seemed sorry',_ that is."

"What did you expect?"

"Nothing less. So she really is your sister?"

Kaminari stared at him appraisingly before answering. "She might as well be."

' _Ah,'_  Hitoshi realized, '  _so they aren't related by blood.'_  He cleared his throat. "Anyway, what are you going to do in the Final Round? You've been cruising through this whole time," he peered at him, "are you going to start taking this seriously?"

Kaminari sighed. "I've told you this before; I have no interest in becoming a hero.  _However_ , due to… unusual circumstances, I need to get into the top three."

"You're not going to tell me these ' _unusual circumstances'_ , are you?"

"Nope."

* * *

"ALL RIGHT! LET'S HAVE SOME FUN WITH THE RECREATIONAL GAMES. AFTER THAT, OUR FOUR QUALIFYING TEAMS WILL COMPETE IN A 1-1 FIGHTING TOURNAMENT! MIDNIGHT WILL EXPLAIN THE TECHNICALITIES!"

The crowd cheered and from the commentator box, Present Mic grinned.

Midnight smiled, strutting onto the podium. "Alright kiddies, in order to have a fighting tournament, we need an even number of people. Since one of our qualifying teams was a team of three, we need someone from the fifth-place team to move up."

Hitoshi frowned, ' _the fifth-place team,'_ he thought, ' _wasn't that-'_

"Us," a girl,  _Itsuka Kendo 1-B,_  answered. She sighed. "We may have come fifth, but the ones who fought 'till the end were Team Tetsutetsu. It's only fair if it's someone from their team."

A boy, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Hitoshi assumed, replied with an almost tearful expression. "K-KENDO!"

The girl shrugged. "It's not being kind; it's being logical."

The boy let out a scream-not a high-pitched one- and, after a bit of pushing from his teammates, decided that he would compete.

Midnight licked her lips. "Now  _that's_  decided, let's look at the matchups."

On a giant screen, the draw was projected.

...

_**Final Round: 1st Bracket** _

_Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu vs Hitoshi Shinsou_

_Mashirao Ojiro vs Akari Sasagawa_

_Eijiro Kirishima vs Denki Kaminari_

_Mina Ashido vs Izuku Midoriya_

_Tenya Iida vs Mei Hatsume_

_Fumikage Tokoyami vs Momo Yaoyorozu_

_Shouto Todoroki vs Hanta Sero_

_Katsuki Bakugo vs Ochaco Uraraka_

...

' _Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu',_  Hitoshi pondered, ' _the one with Steel Quirk, interesting.'_

Kaminari glanced over at Hitoshi, giving him a cheesy thumbs up and grin. "Look at that, we're facing people with similar types of Quirks. How nice, we can strategize together."

Hitoshi snorted. "You mean strategize on how to win with the least amount of effort as possible."

Kaminari's grin collapsed and he just shrugged. "Pretty much."

"AND WITH THAT OVER," Present Mc yelled, "LET'S BEGIN THE RECREATIONAL GAMES!"

* * *

"KURAMA!"

" _What_." The fox groaned.

Matatabi gritted her teeth. "There's something going on, a vigilante who calls himself the  _Hero Killer_  is causing a fuss."

"... _what."_

* * *

Toshinori sighed. He and the Principal were sitting in the stadium, the first match was about to begin.

Toshinori turned to the animal. "How do you think it'll turn out?"

The Principal laughed. "It depends. I'd say Tetsutetsu if we're going by physical strength and Quirk, but if Shinsou plays his cards right...perhaps." He cackled maniacally.

Toshinori sweat-dropped. "Principal, you're spilling tea everywhere."

"Oops. Got a bit too carried away."

* * *

"ALL RIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," Present Mic roared, "THE FINALS YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR IS FINALLY STARTING. THE FIRST MATCH WE HAVE IS:"

Faces flashed onto screens, but all Hitoshi could focus on was the advice Kaminari had given him.

" _Remember Shinsou, in this competition you're practically a one-trick pony. The best you can do is make sure that trick is kept a secret all the way through. The people you brainwashed before were nobodies, these people_ _ **aren't**_   _nobodies."_

He clenched his fists. ' _This is it. This is my_ _ **moment**_ _.'_

"FROM GENERAL STUDIES, WE HAVE OUR UNDERDOG, HITOSHI SHINSOU!"

Hitoshi stepped onto the fighting platform.

"AND FROM THE HERO COURSE, WE HAVE THE MANLY AND PASSIONATE, TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU!"

The boy stomped onto the platform, letting out a war cry. "LET'S DO THIS!"

Hitoshi sighed, ' _How basic; this guy's the standard musclehead.'_

"ALL RIGHT, SO THE RULES ARE SIMPLE. IF YOU'RE KNOCKED OUT OR GET PUSHED OUT-OF-BOUNDS, IT'S GAME OVER. YOU CAN ALSO WIN BY MAKING YOUR OPPONENT SURRENDER!"

Cementoss walked over to a throne on the side of the platform. "Anything life-threatening is a no-no, so I'll be here to keep things under control.

Tetsutetsu grinned. "ALL RIGHT LET'S GO!"

As expected, the musclehead made the first move.

Tetsutetsu lunged forward for a punch, which Hitoshi avoided with ease, he smirked. "You think you're so cool. A Quirk like yours was practically made for this industry."

Tetsutetsu looked confused at the statement, before gritting his teeth and moving in for a kick. "WHAT!"

Hitoshi grinned slightly before swooping to the side.

' _Not the brightest one, huh.'_

Hitoshi gave him a condescending smirk . "Not only can your Quirk be used for both offence and defence, but it's also flashy enough to gain attention."

Tetsutetsu continued to punch, sweat now bleeding down his forehead. Hitoshi kept dodging.

"I DON'T - _pant-_  GET WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY - _pant-_  HERE," Tetsutetsu cried, frustration leaking into his voice, "BUT CAN YOU STAND STILL!"

Hitoshi panted in response but kept moving. ' _My stamina can't keep this up for longer, last question to throw them off.'_ Hitoshi lurched forward, surprising the boy, and clasped onto his shoulder. "I think you're a spoiled prick who got lucky in the genetic lottery," he whispered.

Tetsutetsu shoved him off with ease, leaving a solid bruise on Hitoshi's shoulder, but the boy couldn't help the confused "WHAT-"

Hitoshi grinned. ' _Got you now.'_

" **Stop** ," Hitoshi commanded. Tetsutetsu stopped. " **Walk out of the ring**." Tetsutetsu walked out of the ring.

Hitoshi grinned, ' _I won.'_

"W-WELL, LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A WINNER. GIVE IT UP FOR SHINSOU!"

The crowd cheered, but Hitoshi found himself searching the stadium for one person in particular,

Kaminari raised his eyebrows at Hitoshi from where he was seated, the orange book put away for once. He slowly clapped.

' _Well Done.'_

* * *

Denki hummed as he got changed into his sports uniform, leisurely glancing at the T.V streaming the matches. His match was third, so he had some time.

_*buzz*_

Denki glanced at his phone, which was lying on the bench of the changing room.

_..._

_-One New Message-_

**FOXESAREAMAZINGANDMADARASUCKS:** _Hero Killer Stain in Hosu. Target: Ingenium_

_..._

Denki paused.

' _This might be an issue.'_

* * *

"ALRIGHT FOLKS, OUR NEXT MATCH IS THE ABOUT TO BEGIN, THE PARTICIPANTS ARRREEE:"

Hitoshi was sitting in the bleachers, staring at the students on the screen and sighing. The competitors were Akari and Ojiro. Considering he actually knew the girl, Hitoshi was rooting for Akari.

"FROM THE HERO COURSE, THE MEDICAL MYSTERY, AKARI SASAGAWA!"

The girl shuffled into the arena, hands in pockets and a sulk plastered on her face.

Hitoshi frowned. She didn't look like she was taking this whole thing very seriously. The girl looked annoyed if anything. Hitoshi wondered if she intended to take this match seriously.

"ALSO FROM THE HERO COURSE, WE HAVE THE MARTIAL ARTS PRODIGY, MASHIRAO OJIRO!"

A pale-looking boy with a tail-like appendage stepped onto the fighting arena, shifting into a standard martial stance almost immediately.

' _Hmmm, it's a pretty solid stance, '_ Hitoshi observed, ' _he's waiting for her to make the first move.'_

"Ah," Akari sighed, her soft voice echoing through the stadium, "right, I give up."

' _Well, that answers that question.'_

Ojiro sputtered. "Y-You can't just do that. I-It's not right - and not hero-like  _at all_."

Akari shrugged. "I don't care, not every hero needs an adoring fanbase. I. Give. Up."

"UM. WELL," Present Mic's grin faltered slightly, "THE WINNER OF THE SECOND MATCH IS MASHIRAO OJIRO!"

And with that, Akari strutted out the arena, leaving behind a baffled audience and an annoyed opponent.

* * *

_..._

_-Today-_

**FOXESAREAMAZINGANDMADARASUCKS:** _Hero Killer Stain in Hosu. Target: Ingenium_

 _Deal with it. Busy. Meet you after._ **:JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS**

_..._

* * *

Eijiro was nervous, anyone would be, facing the manliest man from the USJ incident. Sure, he hadn't actually  _seen_  what happened, but from what Midoriya had told him, it was pretty manly. Kaminari would be a tough opponent for sure, but Eijiro wouldn't be a man if he didn't aim to win.

With that thought in mind, he walked into the arena.

"AND FOR OUR THIRD MATCH," Present Mic's voice screamed, " OUR CONTESTANTS ARRREEE:"

Eijiro gulped as his face popped up on the screen, alongside Kaminari's masked one.

"ON OUR RIGHT WE HAVE THE HERO COURSE'S MANLY AND PASSIONATE, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!"

A familiar masked student trudged into the arena opposite from Eijiro. Kaminari didn't look nervous at all, in fact, he seemed more...bored.

"AND ON OUR LEFT WE HAVE GENERAL EDUCATION'S VERY OWN MASKED ENIGMA, DENKI KAMINARI!"

Kaminari grinned at him, or at least Eijiro thought he was grinning at him, the mask made it hard to tell. "Bring it," the boy said.

They were in the middle of the stage at this point.

Eijiro smiled right back, hardening his fist and darting towards the boy. "You're on!" He yelled, but his fist was met with empty air. ' _Where did he go-'_

Coarse hair tickled his shoulder. Eijiro looked to his side; Kaminari was eye-smiling at him from a metre away.

"Over here," the boy teased.

Eijiro gritted his teeth, running up and attempting to punch him again. And again. And again.  _And again._

' _Damn it! He keeps dodging'_ Frustration coursed through Eijiro as he clenched his fist, hardening his entire body and moving in for another barrage of punches.

They all missed.

At this point, both of them were at the edge of the stage and Eijiro was internally  _screaming_. He liked to think of himself as someone good at hand-to-hand combat, considering his Quirk. Now Eijiro felt like a headless chicken running around aimlessly.

' _Ok. Ok. Calm down. Think about this_ _ **logically**_ _. I can't hit him, but he isn't going out of his way to hit me either. Or rather, he_ _ **can't**_ _hit me while my skin is hardened.'_

Eijiro paused in his movements, going back to a solid martial arts stance. As expected, Kaminari didn't move to attack him.

Kaminari raised an eyebrow at him. "Why stop? Isn't that 'unmanly'?"

Eijiro shook his head, holding out a fist in defiance. "A real man knows when to change strategy."

Kaminari shrugged. "Show me what you've got then."

Eijiro grinned at him. "I WILL!"

He crouched down, dug his hands into the arena, and  _pulled_.

Chunks of concrete were thrown into the air, scattered alongside clouds of dust. Using the distraction, Eijiro darted through the flying rubble, ignoring the debris that smacked onto his hardened skin.

' _I can afford to run through this mess without dodging, but_ _ **he**_ _can't.'_

Spotting golden hair, Eijiro lunged in for a punch and-

Fell headfirst. Out of bounds.

' _W-What?'_

"AND THE WINNER IS DENKI KAMINARI!"

The masked boy looked at him sheepishly. "Ah, sorry. That was unlucky."

Still dazed, Eijiro shook his head as stood up. "N-No. That fight was super manly."

The boy grinned. "Yes. Yes, it was."

* * *

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at Kaminari as the boy walked back into the stands.

"That wasn't an accident. You made him trip." It wasn't a question.

Kaminari shrugged. "I will neither deny or confirm that."

Hitoshi grinned. "You sneaky bastard. Everyone thinks you won by dumb luck now."

Kaminari smiled. "They can believe whatever they want."

"Why didn't you just shock him?"

Another shrug.

Hitoshi sighed. "Fine then, I won't question your stupid mysterious ways."

Kaminari just laughed.

* * *

_..._

_-One New Message-_

**FOXESAREAMAZINGANDMADARASUCKS:** _Hero Killer Stain in Hosu. Target: Ingenium_

 _Deal with it. Busy. Meet you after._ **:JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS**

 **FOXESAREAMAZINGANDMADARASUCKS:** _Ok. Should we kill him?_

...

* * *

Hitoshi observed the next few fights with a critical eye.

Midoriya won against Ashido through sheer wit and determination, only using his Quirk once on his finger. He could possibly figure out Hitoshi's own Quirk, but the boy seemed easy to rile up if taunted the right way.

Iida won against Hatsumei through the latter's forfeit. He was earnest and somewhat naive. Iida may be able to figure out his Quirk, but Hitoshi could probably Brainwash him before then.

Tokoyami won against Yaoyorozu. He was strong, smart, and silent. If Hitoshi went up against him he would be at a disadvantage, considering the boy was adept at long ranged combat.

Todoroki won against Sero. He was overpowered and smart. Perhaps before Hitoshi might have been able to bait him, but at this point, the boy seemed too pissed off to hear what anyone might have to say.

Bakugou won against Uraraka. He was strong and smart, but easy to rile up.

There was also Ojiro who had 'won' against Akari. Judging by the Cavalry battle, he seemed ok at hand-to-hand combat. Hitoshi didn't know too much about him.

And, of course, Kaminari. Hitoshi doubted he could beat the boy.

Overall, the competition was tough. Not that he had expected any less, but it was still...intimidating.

* * *

_-Today-_

**FOXESAREAMAZINGANDMADARASUCKS:** _Hero Killer Stain in Hosu. Target: Ingenium_

 _Deal with it. Busy. Meet you after._ **:JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS**

 **FOXESAREAMAZINGANDMADARASUCKS:** _Ok. Should we kill him?_

 _No. Keep him for interrogation._ **:JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS**

* * *

"ALLLL RIIGGHHT!" Present Mic yelled from the commentator box, "NOW FOR THE SECOND BRACKET!"

_**...** _

_**Final Round: 2nd Bracket** _

_Tenya Iida vs Denki Kaminari_

_Shouto Todoroki vs Izuku Midoriya_

_Fumikage Tokoyami vs Hitoshi Shinsou_

_Mashirao Ojiro vs Katsuki Bakugou_

_..._

"AND THOSE ARE THE MATCHUPS FOLKS," Present Mic grinned, "THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE STARTING SOON SO GET READY!"

* * *

Tenya was not nervous. Sure, his hands were a bit sweaty, and maybe his heart was beating a bit too fast, and perhaps he could still hear his brother's wish of luck ringing in his ear, but Tenya was  _not_  nervous.

...alright, he was, a bit. But, in his defence, Tenya had flopped the first match; he ended up being used as an  _advertisement_. This match was his chance to make his brother  _proud_  of him, and he  _knew_ he should accept the luck of the draw,  _knew_ he should be prepared for any opponent. But Tenya couldn't help that small part of that whispered  _why did have to be him, anyone but him…_

It was irrational. Tenya would likely have a harder time against people like Todoroki and Bakugou and, despite the hype from USJ, Kaminari hadn't proven to be anywhere as powerful the rumours and Uraraka claimed him to be.

...but Tenya couldn't get the image of Kirishima after his match out of his mind.

" _Hey, Kirishima," Midoriya asked. They were sitting in the bleacher of the stadium. "Did Kaminari ever use his Quirk against you?"_

_Kirishima paused. "I...I don't know, what's his Quirk?"_

_Midoriya frowned, "Electrification."_

" _Electrification? Why didn't he use it? He could have," Kirishima's eye widened, "_ _ **he could have ended the match right from the start!**_ "  _His voice collapsed to a whisper, "so...so, that whole time, he was just messing with me, deluding me into thinking I had a chance."_

" _W-Well," Midoriya stuttered, "there might be some restrictions on his Quirk or something, we don't know for sure-"_

" _No," Kirishima cut in, "no, he was confident from the start. He knew he would win." Kirishima clenched his fist, "he knew I couldn't win. He didn't even try." Kirishima hunched forward on his seat, holding his face in his hands._

_It was the first time Iida had ever seen Kirishima, the most passionate person ever, look so distraught._

Iida had already been tricked in one match, he didn't want to be tricked in another. If anything, being played with by your opponent-without even realizing it- was far worse then been an advertisement.

It would be a blow to his pride, and Iida would not allow it.

"AND THE COMPETITORS FOR THIS MATCH ARE…"

He walked into the arena.


	17. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wcdxcwds

* * *

 

"ON OUR RIGHT," Present Mic yelled, "FROM THE HERO COURSE WE HAVE, THE FAST AND FURIOUS, IIDA TENYA !"

Tenya grimaced as he walked into the stadium. The cheers were deafening, he could hear his friends rooting for him from the sidelines. Cold-hard determination seeped through him at every step, growing at the closing distance between him and his competitor.

"AND ON OUR LEFT, THE GENERAL COURSE'S MYSTERIOUS KAMINARI DENKI!"

Kaminari raised an eyebrow at him. "Why so tense?"

Tenya gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "I'm going to win and you're going to use your full strength. That includes your Quirk."

"My Quirk?" The masked boy tilted his head. "What about it?"

Tenya pointed his hand at the boy in a robot-like motion, shaking his head in a disapproving sense. "You failed to fight my classmate with the best of your ability. That is an insult to his skills and, should I win this fight, I demand an apology for him."

"An insult, huh," Kaminari mused, "if we're going by that logic, couldn't I say it was an insult for Midoriya to win the first round without his Quirk?"

Tenya sputtered. "W-Well, Midoriya has a Quirk that causes him harm, you on the other hand-"

"-have no idea about the nuts and bolts of my Quirk," Kaminari finished, "you're just making assumptions based on rumours."

Tenya flustered for a moment. ' _It's different,'_ he wanted to say, " _you're different. You act different, you feel different. You're, you're -'_ something Tenya couldn't explain in words. Midoriya, for all his strength and determination, was sincere and earnest in his demeanour. Kaminari, despite his lackadaisical attitude, felt dangerous in a way Midoriya could never be. It wasn't a bad thing, Tenya often received a similar vibe from Aizawa-sensei, but it wasn't something he had ever noticed since their first meeting in the Entrance Exam. It was only when USJ gave him any reason to take note of the boy did Tenya ever feel off.

Of course, 'a scary vibe', wasn't a good reason to challenge Kaminari, so Tenya kept his mouth shut.

The masked boy sighed dramatically. " _Well,_  if you  _insist_. I guess I  _could_ apologise - only if you win though."

Tenya straightened up at that. "Are you admitting to holding back?"

Kaminari gave him a crooked eye-smile. "Well, I wasn't exactly fighting him like my life was on the line."

' _Well'_ , Tenya thought, ' _at least he's honest.'_

Tenya directed both his hands at the boy. "Thank you for accepting my challenge. I will not disappoint."

Kaminari eye-smirked. "Come at me then."

Nodding to the boy, Tenya dug his feet into the ground and pushed off it, propelling himself towards Kaminari in first gear and kicking his right leg out towards him. Judging by the fast reflexes the Gen-Ed student had displayed, Tenya fully expected him to dodge.

Except he didn't. Instead, Kaminari caught the outstretched leg with both hands and-

"AGH!" Kaminari let go, and Tenya was forced to a halt. He gingerly tried to move his right leg. Painful. Slow. But not impossible. ' _Slight paralysis_ ,' he concluded, ' _an annoying but not critical setback.'_

"Those mufflers," Kaminari drawled, "are made of steel, I trust? Or perhaps some other ferrous alloy? Whatever they may be, they're quite the conductor."

Tenya winced. A problem. That was definitely a problem. Kaminari was using the metal in his legs to pinpoint the electricity. Did he need the metal to do it though? Was there a time limit to the electricity? Could the shocks be more painful? Maybe-

' _Crap,'_ Tenya reflected mid-thought, ' _I really don't know anything about his Quirk.'_

"I apologise for my rash statements," he told the boy, "I do indeed have a lapse in knowledge about your Quirk."

Kaminari waved him off. "It's fine," he paused, "you weren't wrong."

Tenya held out his hand. "I WILL ENDEAVOUR TO MAKE YOU FIGHT THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY THEN!"

Kaminari eye-smiled. "Then finish what you started."

Tenya gritted his teeth, bounding towards the boy at his second gear. Instead of moving to kick the boy, however, he jumped.

Kaminari stared up at him, letting out a wolf-whistle. "Nice."

Tenya plummeted to the ground at an incredible speed, digging a leg at least a couple feet into the ground, just behind Kaminari.

' _Thank you Kirishima. For the idea.'_

" **RECIPRO**   **BURST!** " Tenya kicked the concrete into the air in backflip like motion, letting the debris surround the boy and situating himself right in front of him. He moved to kick him, this time at a speed Kaminari couldn't possibly electrocute him in.

_*smack*_

A direct hit. Tenya grabbed the boy by the collar and shifted to throw him out-of-bounds. A hand clasped onto Tenya's leg. Specifically, his mufflers.

' _Crap.'_

Just as Tenya flung the boy, an agonizing wave of pain travelled up him. His legs collapsed, his vision went funny. He was  _inpaininpaininpain_.

"KAMINARI CLINGS TO THE RING BY THE SKIN OF HIS TEETH!"

' _Was that Present Mic?'_

"IT LOOKS LIKE IIDA IS IMMOBILIZED!"

' _Did I lose?'_

"KAMINARI DENKI WINS!"

' _I'm such a failure.'_

* * *

_**-Attention, all Police Stations, Pro-Hero Ingenium was found injured at Hosu, I repeat-** _

_-Hero Killer Stain was found to be-_

_-no critical injuries were inflicted-_

_-villain appeared to have disappeared-_

_-now reporting, traces of Quirks similar to those of-_

_-the Biju, can we have all files on the Biju-_

_-not yet conscious to give a testimony-_

_-Stain still not found-_

_-all available heroes to Hosu-_

_-media under control-_

_-conscious to give a testimony-_

_-family will be informed once all investigations have been-_

_-possible links to the League of Villains-_

_**-Pro-Hero Ingenium was found injured at Hosu. I repeat, Pro-Hero Ingenium was found-** _

* * *

"You'll miss the match."

Kaminari waved him off, "That's what the T.V's for, right?"

Tenya smiled slightly from his bed. "I guess."

They were in the nurse's room. Tenya was still recovering from the match.

"Sorry," Tenya glanced towards Kaminari. The boy didn't look up from his book. "I shouldn't have shocked you that hard."

Tenya grimaced, leaning back into his bed. "I asked you to use your full strength. the fault lies with me," he turned to the boy, "even if you were still holding back."

A page was turned. "You noticed?"

Tenya sighed. "When you first caught my leg, why didn't you just full out shock me then?"

"Maybe because there's a condition to my Quirk? Or a restraint?"

Tenya laughed. "Somehow, I don't believe that."

A huff. "Suit yourself."

An awkward silence congested the room. Tenya caved into the pressure first. "I...I'm going going to beat you. At your full strength. So," he pointed a hand at the boy, "so watch out, and be prepared."

Kaminari eye-smiled at him, closing his book and standing up. As he made his way to the door he looked back. "I look forward to it."

He didn't mention the tears running down Tenya's face.

* * *

"Where  _were_ you? You missed the match."

Kaminari glanced up from his book, shrugging at Hitoshi with a bored expression. "Oh, you know doing stuff," he snapped the book shut, "who won?"

Hitoshi tsched at the change of topic. "Todoroki." Both of them were sitting in the locker room.

Kaminari hummed. "Is that so? Interesting. Anyway, what are you doing for your match?"

Hitoshi sighed. "I don't know, this is probably the worst match-up for me. At least with Bakugou I could easily get a rise out of him." He glanced at Kaminari. "What do you think?"

The boy shrugged but didn't look him in the eye.

* * *

"ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT MATCH!" Present Mic grinned the wave of cheers. "I GUESS WE ARE! OUR COMPETITORS ARRRREE…"

Hitoshi grimaced at the sight of his face on the screen.

"SHINSOU HITOSHI FROM GEN-ED!"

He gave the crowd a slight nod.

"AND TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE FROM THE HERO COURSE!"

His opponent ignored the crowd.

Hitoshi clenched his fists. "Well then, aren't you going to make a move?"

Tokoyami simply stared at him, holding out a hand to the side. A black entity slithered its way out of his cloak and darted towards Hitoshi.

Hitoshi sighed and braced himself for the impact. ' _I really was naive in thinking I had a chance.'_

The creature, to its credit, didn't shove him too hard.

"TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE WINS!"

* * *

"That was pathetic."

Hitoshi glared at Kaminari. They were in the stands and he did  _not_ want to have this conversation here. "I  _know._  My Quirk's pathetic. I get it."

Kaminari frowned. "I'm not talking about your Quirk., I'm talking about how you acted. You gave up as soon as your first plan failed," the boy poked him in the forehead, "that's not hero-like at all."

Hitoshi sneered. "Then what was I supposed to do, huh?  _Fight_  him while practically Quirkless?"

Kaminari sighed. "It's easy to just give up in a match like this, but you realize when you become a Pro you can't just  _leave_ if a fight gets too hard. You'd have to exhaust every other option first."

Hitoshi tsched. "And what were my other options, huh? He figured out there was some trigger to my Quirk and responded with the least invasive attack possible. Besides, we're just kids and it's just a competition. What's the big deal?"

Kaminari paused, his face contorting as if he just realised something. "I...I guess." He stared down at his hands for a second, before glancing up and walking away.

Hitoshi faltered, holding out his to pull Kaminari back. "H-Hey, where are you going?"

The boy just left.

* * *

It was stupid. This was all stupid. Pacing back and forth through the hallways, Denki couldn't believe he forgot. Because for all the similarities between this world and his old one, these people weren't Shinobi. These kids weren't being trained to be cold-blooded killers, they were being trained to be heroes. They were being taught with the love and care that kids deserved, not the brutality he was used to.

Looking at Shinsou, it was easy to see how little the stakes were here. The boy by no means didn't care for the outcome of the sports festival, but he didn't hold it to the same stakes as the genin in the Chunin Exams did. He wasn't going to risk his life or fight through every injury to win. At home, it was a matter of life and death, here it was your pride.

But the similarities made it so easy to get carried away, to apply pressure that wasn't needed.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the distance.

Denki paused in his pacing and sighed.

"Kid? What are you doing?"

Denki turned around and plastered smirk on his face. "Aizawa, why are you here?"

The man exhaled. "Aizawa-sensei to you now, and I could ask you the same question. Shinsou told me you walked off."

Denki rubbed his head sheepishly. "Ah, I got a bit lost in thought. Aren't you supposed to be commentating right now?"

"Hizashi has that covered," he gruffed, before pausing and studying Denki intently. "You are...ok, right?"

Denki laughed. "Of course I am."

 

* * *

" _Tomura."_

The villain looked up from his drink to the screen in the bar. "Yes, Sensei?"

" _Look into Hero Killer Stain, he's caused a bit of a fuss, but he's strong. Caduceus, what's the status with Phoenix?"_

The cloaked figure looked up blearily from the other end of the bar. They sighed. "Good, I guess."

" _Do you need more...stimulation?"_

They flinched. "N-No. It's going fast enough."

" _Very well. If Phoenix feels it to be going too slow then he can arrange something with Tomura."_

The screen flicked off.

Tomura smirked. "I can do that," he turned to the figure and sneered at the slight tremble in their hands. "Why so scared? Shouldn't you be used to this by now?"

They let out a shaky laugh. "Torture isn't exactly something you get used too."

* * *

"AND WITH THAT OVERWHELMING VICTORY, BAKUGOU KATSUKI ADVANCES TO THE SEMI-FINAL!" Present Mic grinned, "HERE'S THE NEXT BRACKET!"

\----------------------------------

_**Final Round: Third Bracket** _

_Todoroki Shouto vs Tokoyami Fumikage_

_BakugouKatsuki vs Kaminari Denki_

\----------------------------------

Katsuki tsched as he stared at the screen. He was facing Kaminari, the shitty extra from Gen-Ed. The one who was at USJ.

' _Who cares',_  Katsuki thought as he walked back to the sidelines, ' _I'm going to crush him anyway, make him use his Quirk to its full potential.'_ He brushed past Kirishima, who smiled and waved at him. He scowled back.

.....................................................

~~" _No," Kirishima cut in, "no, he was confident from the start. He knew he would win." Kirishima clenched his fist, "he knew I couldn't win. He didn't even try."_~~

.....................................................

Katsuki grimaced. ' _I'll win for sure'_

* * *

"AND HERE WE HAVE TODOROKI SHOUTO VS TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE," Present Mic yelled, "BEGIN!"

Kirishima nudged Katsuki. "Who do you think will win?" Both of them were sitting on the sidelines, watching the match.

He scowled. "It better be Half 'n Half Bastard, I'm going to crush him in the finals."

Kirishima laughed, "Slow down there, you haven't even faced Kaminari yet and he's pretty strong," his grin fell slightly, "I mean, I think he is."

Katsuki eyed Kirishima warily. "Don't start bawling on me Shitty-Hair."

Kirishima mock-gasped, frown disappearing. 'Don't tell me the oh-so-cruel Bakugou Katsuki is showing, can you believe it,  _concern_."

Katsuki growled. "Don't twist my words," he paused, "what was Pikachu like when you faced him?"

Kirishima blinked. "Pikach - oh, Kaminari, well," he held his face in his hands thoughtfully, "he was confident, that was for sure, but he also had great reflexes and was super strong. Kaminari was, how should I put this, intimidating I guess. Or maybe experienced? I don't know, he gave me the same vibes Aizawa-sensei does sometimes."

Katsuki frowned. ' _Same vibes as sensei, huh. Maybe he's got a lot of first-hand experience in combat, that would explain his strength and smug attitude.'_ Katsuki grinned. ' _It'll be an interesting match. To crush him.'_

Kirishima poked him in the shoulder. "Are you alright? You look a bit psychotic, not gonna lie."

Katsuki scowled, "I do-"

"TODOROKI SHOUTO WINS WITH AN OVERWHELMING VICTORY!"

Katsuki looked back to the match with alarm. ' _Crap, I was supposed to be studying IcyHot's fighting style.'_

Kirishima laughed, "you can still watch it on tape, you know."

Katsuki scowled. "Shut up."

* * *

"OI, PIKACHU!"

Denki warily glanced up from his book. He was in the locker room, and the only student with such an annoying voice was-

"YOU BETTER USE YOUR FULL STRENGTH!"

-Bakugou Katsuki.

Denki smirked at the boy. "Only if I need to."

Veins bulged on Bakugou's forehead. "I'll force you too, you shitty extra."

Denki hummed, ' _extra? That's a new one.'_  "You can try."

A hand exploded the table next to him.

Denki sighed. "That was rude."

* * *

"NEXT UP, BAKUGOU KATSUKI VS KAMINARI DENKI!"

Katsuki scowled as he walked onto the fighting platform. Pikachu was taking his sweet time shuffling onto the stage and it made Katsuki twitch with annoyance.

' _Calm down,'_ Katsuki repeated in his head, ' _it's just another shitty extra. I just need to win so I can fight_ _Half 'n Half, he's the threat here. Pikachu is just another shitty extr-'_

"Kaminari," Midnight called out, "you're not allowed items during the fight."

Pikachu fucking pouted, waving his disgusting literature in the air. "It's just a book - and it's your favourite serious."

' _Don't tell me that shitty Dumb Face is going to-'_

Midnight squinted at the book, nodding... _approvingly._  "Ah well, I can get where you're coming from," she licked her lips, "not too much plot and straight to the point, it's a hard one to put down," She held a hand to her forehead, biting her lips. "Fine, but only because it's one of Takeha Yajarii's."

The shitty extra grinned. "Thanks."

Katsuki clenched his fist. "You-you piece of  _shit!_  I'm going to fucking  _kill_ you!"

Pikachu only smirked from underneath his book. "You can try."

Katsuki lunged at him, sweat already pooling into his hands, and reached out to grab at him. As he closed in, Kaminari stepped out to the side, face still stuck in his book. Scowling, Katsuki ducked low instead, kicking out his leg to trip the boy instead. The outstretched leg was caught ease and Katsuki found himself being thrown across the stage with one hand.

' _Damn it,'_ he scowled as he braced himself on the ground, ' _he's making a fool out of me. That shitty extra aggravated me on purpose to make me rash.'_

Kaminari snapped his book shut. "What now Bakugou?"

Katsuki grinned. " _Die."_ He swept a hand towards Kaminari, exploding the ground as he went. The boy frowned darting past the rubble and through the smoke. Katsuki eyed the space around him carefully. ' _Up until now, I've only seen him fight close combat. Let's see how well he deals with long-range.'_ The smoke parted slightly to his right, he held out his fired another explosion. There was nothing there. ' _What-'_

"ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!"

Katsuki turned around too late. An electric shock buzzed through him. He was, once again, sent almost jumping to the corner of the stage.

' _WHAT KIND OF MOVE WAS THAT!'_ He internally screamed. The smoke had, thankfully, covered the cameras during the 'attack'. ' _That shitty Pikachu is_ _ **dead**_ _,'_ he scowled, ' _not only did_ _he pull the stupidest attack ever - shoving his finger up my arse and sending electricity through it. He made sure there wasn't enough of a shock to send me out of bounds.'_

Katsuki glared at the boy, who had once again opened his book. ' _What's his game?'_

The boy yawned.

Katsuki felt his eyebrows twitch. His fists clench. His breath shorten. ' _There is no way I'm going to be beaten here, by some stupid extra, no way I'm going to be made a fool out of._ _I'm going to win._ _ **I'm going to win.'**_

He pointed his arm at Kaminari and fired explosions. The boy glanced up with a blank look on his face, ducking down to the point the ends of his hair were only slightly scorched. Katsuki fired another set of explosions, and another, and another, slowly cornering the boy to the edge of the stage. Kaminari continued to dodge, but as he went on the movements became half-hearted, and his expression, blank.

"OI," he screamed, "FIGHT ME WITH ALL YOU GOT!"

Katsuki got a bland smile in return.

"I don't really feel like it," Kaminari whispered.

Katsuki froze, the implications sinking in as he paused in his barrage of explosions. "OI-"

It was too late. Kaminari had already stepped over the line.

' _nonononono it's not supposed to be like this i'm supposed to crush him i'm supposed to-'_

"B-BAKUGOU KATSUKI WINS!"

' _I don't want to win like this.'_

* * *

 


	18. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dvscx fewdsxz

* * *

Rage. That was the only word that could describe what Katsuki felt.

"WHAT," he bellowed, stomping his way toward Kaminari, "DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT!" He grabbed the boy by the collar and began to shake him.

"Now, now," the boy pacified, "I think we should all just calm down. Come on Bakugou, take deep breaths, deep breaths. In and out, in and-"

"STOP SCREWING AROUND AND FIG-"

A sleepy scent invaded his nose. The last thing he saw was Midnight's back turned towards him

' _Damn you.'_

* * *

"What do you think, Principal?"

Nezu smiled as he sipped his tea, craning his head over Aizawa's messy one. "Interesting, he made it into the top 3 while barely using his Quirk."

Aizawa frowned as he shifted the rodent off his shoulders. "Why though? We already know his potential, thanks to USJ."

Nedzu hummed as he settled onto a seat in the empty stand. "I don't think it's just  _us_ he's concerned about."

Aizawa straightened at that. "You think he has enemies that want to attack him?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Nedzu took another sip, "either way I think we're overdue a serious conversation with him."

Aizawa grimaced. "I guess we are."

* * *

"You've really gone and done it this time."

Denki smiled blandly at Shinsou as they walked through the corridors. "What on earth do you mean?"

Shinsou scowled at him. "You made a fool out of explodo-boy. He's not going to let this go, you realize. Bakugou's going to start hounding you for a rematch."

Denki shrugged. "So? I don't care, I did what I was told to do. Nothing more, nothing less."

Shinsou sighed. "You're a real piece work, you know that."

"People have mentioned it to me."

Shinsou rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I get the feeling-"

"Ah, Kaminari-san!"

Both of them turned around. "Eh, Uraraka?" Shinsou called out.

The girl flushed. "A-Ah, Shinsou-san too, I didn't know you guys were friends?"

Shinsou tsched. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

Uraraka flushed even harder. "Right." She shook her head fervently before focusing on Denki again. "Kaminari-san, I was wondering," she took a deep breath before spitting out, "why didn't fight Bakugou properly? Or anyone? All of us tried really, really, hard to get where we are, and you not taking it seriously, well," her voice began to crack, "it made everything feel meaningless."

Denki hummed contemplatively. "Uraraka, why do you want to be a hero?"

"Eh," she looked startled, pausing slightly before hesitantly saying, "to save people?"

"Right," Denki brushed back the hair in his face, eyeing her guilty smile but not commenting on it, "you want to be a public hero, don't you? Trusted by the public, revered by the next generation. That sort of thing."

Uraraka looked uncomfortable now. "Errr, yeah?"

"Well," Denki looked the girl straight in the eye, "not everyone does. I for one, have little interest in showing off to the public. My reason for making it to the top three is personal."

"B-But," she sputtered, "you could have at least tried, and-"

"Uraraka," Denk interrupted, "could you really look me in the eye and say, should there be no other motivation, Aizawa would have tried his very best to get through the festival.

Uraraka tilted her head. "Aizawa-sensei? Well, his Quirk is strong and he could definitely make it far, but he isn't a fan of the public so…" Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh."

Denki smiled. "Yes,  _oh_. You see, I'm-"

"-nervous around the public!" Uraraka finished, clapping her hands together. "That's fine," she rambled, "I know Aizawa hates the media too. I may not know your reasons but I get the sentiment, not everyone wants their Quirk to be judged and broadcasted everywhere." Uraraka grinned what she probably assumed was a reassuring smile, "thank you, I understand now." With that, she scuttled off.

"Well," Hitoshi blinked, "she got the right answer, she just used the wrong formula."

Denki sighed. "That's one way of putting it," he started walking again, "come on, we're gonna miss the Finals."

* * *

_*ring ring*_

Tenya glanced down at his phone, recognizing the number displayed. He turned to his friends who were climbing into the audience. "Sorry,"he said, "I need to take a call."

Midoriya and Uraraka nodded. "Ok," they chorused.

Tenya smiled, before ducking to the side of the stands to answer the call. "Mother, hello."

" _Tenya,"_  she answered, her voice shaking, " _your brother is in hospital."_

* * *

"So," Kurama drawled, staring at the restrained body in front of him, "what exactly are we supposed to be doing with him?"

Gyuki crouched next to the body, poking its face with his tentacle-like fingers. His finger was smeared with red. "Are you sure he's even alive? We're supposed to interrogate him, right?"

Shukaku scoffed. "Of course he's alive, I made sure myself."

Matatabi snorted. "That makes me even more concerned."

"Hey-"

" _Nghhh...uhhhh."_

The Biju turned to the bloody figure. Sure enough, the Hero-Killer had his eyes blearily open.

" _Wha-"_

"Perfect timing," a voice drawled. Kurama turned to the source and grinned.

"Aren't you still supposed to be at the festival?"

Kaminari smirked. "I had a 'family emergency', had to miss the final match."

" _Who...who are you?"_

Kaminari swivelled towards the chained villain. "Ah, Hero Killer Stain. Or should I say,  _Akaguro Chizome._ "

His eyes widened. " _What-_ "

Kaminari crouched next to the man, leaning his face mockingly on his hand. "The ex-vigilante who once went by the name Stendhal, you preach for the 'Revival of Heroics', an ideology that was born to you after you attended and dropped out of a private hero school."

" _H-How_?"

Kaminari tutted. "Now, now, Mr Stain, you can't have put that much faith in the information brokers you dealt with."

The villain growled, his gnarly fingers attempting to curl up into a fist. " _K-Kaede_."

Kaminari smirked. "She didn't even ask for a price." He stood up and began pacing around the man. "But I've digressed. You see, unlike most heroes, I have no qualms in killing you. Not only would that be getting rid off the threat you pose, but it would also kill the risk you pose of spreading your ideology." He smirked, "Yet, here you are, beaten and bloody, but alive." He paused, observing the villain's reaction out the corner of his eye. "I'm sure you've heard of the League of Villains."

Stain twitched.

Kaminari grinned. "They have a goal of destroying society, destroying All Might. They have no rhyme or reason for this goal, simply destruction for the sake of destruction. Not a very nice bunch of people, I must admit." He turned to the man. "I want you to infiltrate them"

" _No_."

Kaminari smiled. "No? A man full of resolve, are you? Unbending from your ideals?" He crouched down again, gently lifting the man's chin and caressing a hand over his throat, resting it on his voice box. "The larynx, not only does it house the vocal folds, but it also protects the airway below it," Kaminari pressed on it lightly, "I wonder what would happen if we...closed it." He returned his hand to his side and grinned. "But that's not the point here, is it?"

" _You-you_ ," Stain coughed, blood dribbled onto Kaminari's hand. " _I'd rather die than fulfil your selfish needs."_

Kaminari laughed, removing his hand from the man's chin and wiping off the blood. "But could you really call them selfish? Getting rid of villains is for the betterment of society, after all, and you're welcome to kill the truly corrupt heroes," he smirked, "besides, wouldn't it be better to let your ideals be known? Rather than withering away in some uncharted basement. This is a one-time deal, the police aren't going to give you another one."

There was a pause. A long one.

" _...fine, unchain me."_

Kaminari grinned. "Kurama, would you like to do the honours?"

The fox snorted, "Finally remembered we exist." He snapped the chains in half with a tail, scowling derisively when the man attempted and failed to get up. "Pathetic," he muttered. Kurama grabbed the man's wrist with his paw, hauling him up and flaring chakra around it. A seal appeared around it. The fox motioned for Kaminari wrist, who frowned as he handed it to him.

"A cursed seal? I didn't know you could do that." Kaminari questioned as he observed the mark now embedded on his wrist.

"Yeah," Kurama gruffed, "I've picked up a couple things from the sage and Naruto - it'll burn whenever you want it too."

" _That-that wasn't part of the agreement."_  Stain growled.

"It wasn't," Kaminari admitted, "but there's no backing out now." He turned to Kurama. "How chakra did that cost you?"

" _Chak-?"_

"Not too much," Kurama evaded. "But shouldn't you be heading off now?"

Kaminari frowned. "I guess, Aizawa's not going to but that 'family emergency' excuse for a second."

Matatabi snorted. "Probably because you don't have a family."

" _Wait, you-you're from UA?"_

Kaminari turned to the villain. "I am."

Stain sneered. " _You're no better than those fools from the industry."_

Kaminari tsched. "I'm in the Gen-Ed course. Anyway," he turned to the Biju, "can you make sure he makes contact with the League soon?"

They nodded.

He sighed. "Thanks, I'll be leaving then."

Kaminari left the base.

* * *

Shouta was  _supposed_ to be in a good mood. Bakugou and Todoroki had come first and second respectively, even Tokoyami had come third. His class had done well in the Sports Festival, and as a teacher, he  _should_  be happy.

But he wasn't. Ingenium had been attacked, directly affecting Iida. The man wasn't in critical condition, but his career was being held in the balance, something Iida wouldn't take lightly.

On top of that Kaminari goddamn Denki had run off to who knows where. Shinsou had claimed a family emergency, which was bullshit since Kaminari didn't have a family.

Shouta wondered what that said about himself, considering Kaminari didn't even bother coming up with believable lies for him at this point.

"Eh, Aizawa?" '

Shouta looked up from the gate he was leaning on. The problem child had arrived.

"Kaminari," he greeted, a smirk crawling up his face, "I was wondering where you were- since you missed the Award Ceremony and everything," he cracked his knuckles, "more importantly, what happened to this…'family emergency'?"

Kaminari grinned slightly, shoving his book in his pocket and bringing his hands behind his head. "Ah, well, you see, my friend's - who's practically family - cousin's stepmother's sister's godmother's niece had a terrible accident - she tripped over her cat - and I was asked to go help so I-"

"What were you  _really_ doing?"

Kaminari blinked. "As I said, I was helping-"

"No,  _really_."

"I was  _really_  helping-"

"I mean-" Shouta exhaled. ' _I'm getting nowhere with this.'_  "Kaminari," he began in a slower voice, "would you rather tell me what you've been getting up to or the Principal?"

Kaminari wolf-whistled. "Oooo, bringing out the big guns, are we?"

Shouta's left eyebrow twitched. ' _Does this kid take anything seriously?"_  He grabbed the boy by the cuff and started dragging him.

"Hey, hey,  _hey_. Where are we going?"

"To the Principal," Shouta growled.

* * *

Toshinori was confused. He had, of course, heard and seen the enigma that was Kaminari Denki. Going by the boy's track record he had expected to formally meet the boy soon, whether in his class or around the school.

This, however, was not what he was expecting.

"All Might," the Principal called out, snapping him from his thoughts. The rodent motioned his teacup in the direction of the boy, who was staring blankly out of the office window. "This is Kaminari Denki, our General Studies Third place winner.'

The boy cast a glance at him, creasing his eyes into what appeared to be a smile. "Yo." He returned to squinting at the window.

"Nice to finally meet you, my boy!" Toshinori smiled his blinding It-Is-I Smile.

Kaminari continued to stare out the window.

Toshinori sweatdropped. ' _What a lacklustre reaction.'_

"Anyway," the Principal cut in, interrupting the awkward tension, "Kaminari, what were you doing outside of school during the Award Ceremony? Apart from ' _helping your_   _friend's cousin's stepmother's sister's godmother's niece'_ , that is. "

' _What?'_ Toshinori thought.

Kaminari rubbed his hair sheepishly. "Well, you see, I really was-"

"What's her name then?" The Principal smirked. "This person of yours, give us her name."

Kaminari stared at the Principal contemplatively, "Sakura," he said slowly.

"Her last name?"

"I don't know it."

"Quirk?"

"Don't know it."

"Could you bring us to her?"

"Don't know where she is now."

"What about your friend's name?"

"Smith Noah, he's from America."

"You know people from America?"

Kaminari shrugged. "I mean, this  _is_ the day and age of the internet."

Toshinori watched the Principal's paw twitch ever so slightly. He could see why, the name Sakura was fairly common, without a last name or Quirk they would be hard pressed to find this 'person'. And they didn't have unrestrained access to American data either, so finding a  _Smith Noah_ would be difficult as well.

Toshinori was impressed. A blatant lie that they couldn't really prove was a lie.

"Ok," the Principal exhaled, "moving on, I'd like to discuss your performance at the Sports Festival."

Kaminari hummed. "I got third, so, according to the deal, I should be staying in the same department, right?"

Toshinori frowned. ' _That's a weird deal.'_

"Ah, yes," the Principal coughed slightly. " About that, just as we have the freedom to transfer Hero Course students to the other departments anytime we please, we also have the power to do the opposite." The rodent smiled, "it wouldn't be fair otherwise."

Kaminari paused, processing the statement. "So," he frowned, "you were trolling me?"

The Principal laughed, "I guess you could say I was," he narrowed his eyes, "I mean, it is customary for students from other departments who made it to the podium to be transferred."

"So if a Support Course student made it to the podium using their support items," Kaminari began, "they would be transferred as well?"

"Well, no," the Principal answered, "because the student got to that position due to their merit in support."

"A lot of people are under the impression I got to third because of dumb luck. I could argue that I didn't get to third based on my own merit."

"A lot of people are also under the impression you were holding back during most of your matches. I could argue that makes you even more deserving of a transfer. "

"An unwilling hero is more of a deadweight to the industry then an asset," Kaminari shot back, "I could argue that my so-called 'tendency to hold back' would be a hindrance and an absence of certain heroic qualities."

"Your performance at a public competition does not determine your heroic qualities," the Principal retorted, "and even if that were the case you could argue that as a hero-school it is our job to educate you in those aspects."

The two stared at each other, neither appearing to relent.

Toshinori coughed. " _Ah-hem._ Perhaps it would be best for young Kaminari to have a...trial run, in the Hero Course." He turned to the boy, "you may find yourself enjoying the course more than you had thought."

Kaminari rolled his eyes. "I don't think-"

"An excellent suggestion All Might, " the Principal grinned and turned to Kaminari. "Attend the course for a couple months, and we'll discuss you're placement afterwards."

"I-" Kaminari closed his mouth, shaking his head then nodding. "You know what? Fine. I'll do a temporary transfer," he narrowed his eyes, "But I want you to consider Shinsou Hitoshi for a transfer as well."

The Principal smiled. "Of course, we were considering him anyway."

Kaminari gritted his teeth, eyes pouting ever so slightly. "And I'm not going to that stupid psychologist either." He turned sharply and sauntered out of the room.

"...that was interesting," Toshinori commented after an awkward silence, returning to his skeletal form.

"It was," the Principal agreed, he turned to Toshinori. "What do you think of him?"

"He's more...childish than USJ gave me the impression of," Toshinori admitted, "I suppose that makes sense, it  _was_  a tense situation."

"Oh," the Principal looked at him blankly, beady eyes boring into him. "What else?"

"Er, well," Toshinori stuttered, "I know it's a bit presumptuous to say, but I'm surprised he didn't want to be hero, with how much the media seems to push it these days. It's almost as if he has something personal against them…" Toshinori sweatdropped, the Principal was still staring at him.

"Hm," the rodent finally glanced back at his tea. "Interesting observation. It'll be interesting to see you teach him, Yagi."

Toshinori laughed awkwardly. "I guess."

* * *

"I'm getting transferred to the Hero Course."

He could hear Kaede's laughter through the phone.

" _I'm not surprised, especially after that little show at the Festival."_

Denki snorted. "Still, it's a pretty petty move."

" _Sounds like something_ _ **you**_ _would do."_

Denki laughed as he flopped on his bed. "It does, doesn't it?"

" _Are you happy about the transfer?"_

Denki hummed. "I mean, I still don't want to be a hero, but there are some things I'd like to look into that would make being in the Hero Course convenient."

" _Oh?"_ Kaede sounded interested. " _Do tell."_

"Do you know anything about All Might's Quirk?" Denki asked.

" _Only that it's some sort of strength augmentation. Why?"_

Denki hummed contemplatively. "Do you think you could look into Midoriya Izuku's Quirk for me? Like the files?"

" _I could,"_ she replied slowly, " _but why? You don't think they have the same Quirk, do you?"_

"Who knows? But," his voice turned frosty, "whatever information you glean, only tell me. I'm not putting that kid on some villains watchlist because I got too nosy."

Kaede snorted. " _I'm not completely cold-hearted."_  She paused. " _I'll look into it."_ She hung up.

Denki sighed, rolling over in his bed. ' _What an annoying situation.'_

A knock echoed on his door.

"Come in," he called in.

A tiny figure burst through.

"NII-SAN!" Eri shouted, jumping up and pouncing on him.

"Eri-chan," Denki ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, hello 'Nii-san'," a voice drawled.

Denki looked up. Shinsou was scowling at him.

"When you said 'family emergency' I thought something happened to her. Turns out my friend's a lying prick who likes throwing his friends with the sharks."

Translation:  _I was genuinely worried for you and Eri so I went to Aizawa and he got pissed and it was terrifying,_

Denki smiled. "Ah, I didn't need to introduce you two, how convenient."

Shinsou sighed. "Whatever," he mumbled, plonking himself on the bed as well. "I didn't know you lived in UA?"

"Me and Nii-san live with Aizawa-san, and Aizawa lives in UA," Eri cheerfully answered.

Shinsou raised an eyebrow. "So you guys and Aizawa are…?"

"No," Denki stated.

"Oh."

An awkward silence. Denki sighed. Shinsou had probably figured out that they were orphans.

"Nii-san," Eri tugged at his mask, pushing his attention onto her, "you were really cool in the Sports Festival!" She glanced at Shinsou and patted him on the knee. "Ah, you were too."

Shinsou snorted. "Of course, the pitty-pat."

Denki laughed and Eri pouted.

"It's not a  _pitty-_ pat!" She stuck out her bottom lip and turned away, making sure to give a loud ' _hmph'_.

"Looks like someone got rejected," Denki teased, "this isn't a laughing matter Shinsou - she might revoke her approval."

Shinsou played along with mock-horrification. "Alas, my friendship is at risk - how can I make it up to you, your highness?" He bowed his head knightly manner.

Eri giggled, holding her head up in a princessy way and letting Shinsou kiss her hand. "Carry me around the school, Sir Knight." She demanded.

Shinsou grinned, scrambling off the bed and baring his back towards her.

Eri laughed as she clambered on. "Forward," she cried.

The two sped off, leaving Denki to snicker quietly to himself.

' _So the self-proclaimed loner has a fondness for kids, who knew?'_

"Oi, brat."

Denki turned to the door, the scraggly man was leaning on the frame. "Aizawa," he yawned, "what are you doing here?"

Aizawa snorted. "This  _is_  my apartment, you realize," he sighed, "anyway, the Principal told me you'd be joining 1-A for three months and" he groaned, "that you're ditching that phycologist."

Denki pouted. "I was practically coerced into this."

"Not my problem."

"But  _Aizaaawwa_ , I'm in  _your_ class. That makes me even  _more_ of your problem."

"Oh, be quiet."

* * *

_~~Embers of gold crawled through the floor, feasting on wooden walls and licking the concrete ceiling. In the middle of the room, a man was bathed in flames, not a cloth to cover his decency, yet he stood there with majesty.~~ _

_~~A figure was limping at the edge of the room, watching the man with shaking hands and a blood-stained cloak.~~ _

_~~The man grinned and raised his hands. The flames gathered together in response, converging into wings on his back.~~ _

_~~He laughed. "At last, I have returned." The man turned to the figure. "I must thank you, Caduceus, it turns out that pain was an excellent stimulator for your Quirk. My recovery has sped up drastically." He strutted over to the shaking individual, who had slid onto the floor. The man crouched down, forcefully grabbing their chin and licking the blood from it. He grinned as the flames gave a slight flicker.~~ _

_~~"Tomura was right, this is effective."~~ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: In canon, both Tokoyami and Iida got third. So there are four podium placers, hence Kakadenki previously throwing the match.
> 
> Cheers


	19. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gettd

 

* * *

**-Contacting the Hawks Hero Agency, we need backup at-**

-reporting live, massive fires have been sighted in Fukuoka -

**-alerting the emergency services, we need immediate treatment for burn victims-**

-Pro-Hero Hawks can be seen on the scene, as of now, we are unaware of-

**-a male has been identified near the source of flames-**

-under the suspicion the fires were triggered by a Quirk-

**-previously identified male has disappeared from vision**

-heroes have informed us that everything is under control-

**-requesting immediate backup-**

-Hawks appears to be circling the area-

**-no casualties-**

-no casualties as of yet, the fires have been put out but heroes remain vigilant-

* * *

"Well, well, well," the screen gave a throaty cackle, "he certainly put on a grand entrance."

Shiragaki scowled, pacing around the bar in irritation. "What a  _show-off_. Are you sure this Pheonix guy is as good as you claim him to be."

"Have faith, Tomura," the screen chastised, "all allies are valuable." It flickered off.

"Yeah,  _Tomura,_ " Caduceus snickered from the bar table, "have  _faith."_

Shiragaki hissed at them, "don't act so cocky you  _side character_."

The hooded figure laughed. "Hasn't Sensei told you not to be mean to your party members? Don't be a  _brat_."

Shiragaki lunged.

" _Oi!"_

Kurogiri sighed, eyeing the two with annoyance. "I swear you two..."

Shiragaki pouted. " _She_  started it."

Caduceus snorted, "Oh yes, blame the  _side character_." She held out her shredded sleeve with contemptment. "Ugh," she groaned, "and I just managed to scrub the blood out as well."

Kurogiri coughed. " _Anyway,_ Caduceus, where is the Phoenix right now?"

She shrugged. "He said he'd be 'scouting the enemy'. Personally, I think he just wants to mess with Hawks. Probably salty there's someone else with a strong bird Quirk."

Kurogiri hummed. "And have you...recovered, from the incident?"

Caduceus stiffened. "...yeah."

Shiragaki snorted. "How pathetic, a Quirk that's made stronger by  _pain._ "

"At least I don't destroy everything I touch," she retorted.

" _Don't bring my father into this!"_

" _I didn't even mention him you NITWIT!"_

" _AT LEAST I DON'T HAVE TO BE FUC-"_

"Is this the League of Villains?"

Shiragaki and Caduceus both froze, turning to the now not-empty doorway.

Kurogiri looked up from the glass he was wiping. "It is indeed."

Stain grinned. "I'd like to talk to your leader."

* * *

"Oi Bakugou, did you see the news?"

Katsuki scowled as he turned to the source of pestering walking beside him. " _Of course_  I did Shitty-Hair, do I look like a fucking idiot?"

Kirishima laughed. "So, what do you think? A mysterious villain picking on Fukuoku, why there I wonder?"

Katsuki slammed the classroom door open. "Because of fucking Hawks, that's why."

Shitty Hair blinked in surprise. "Eh? Hawks? Why would someone target a hero?"

Katsuki snorted, chucking his phone to Shitty-Hair, who caught in surprise.

_**HERO KILLER STAIN ATTACKS PRO-HERO INGENIUM!** _

"Who'd attack-"

"What are you guys looking at?"

Round-Face skipped over to where they were, peering at the device in interest. "EH!" She gasped, "isn't that Iida-kun's brother!"

Katsuki frowned at her comment. "Sonic's brother?"

"Yes, he is my brother."

Uraraka turned in surprise, "IIDA-KUN!" She hugged the boy, "OHMYGODI'MSOSORRY!"

Iida gave a strained smile. "It is alright, my brother is not in critical condition."

Katsuki grimaced. ' _That just tells us he's not dying. Who knows what other shit he got dealt.'_

"Oi, settle down. I have an announcement to make."

Aizawa-sensei shuffled into the classroom, scowling at them all as he went. Katsuki dumped himself on a seat.

The scruffy man cleared his throat. " _Ah-hem_. So we have a new student getting transferred to this class and he's here for a trial period. You've all probably figured out who he is."

Kaminari fucking Denki walked through the door in all his porn-reading glory. He gave the class a one-handed salute. "Yo."

Silence then-

"FIGHT ME YOU DUMB PIECE OF SHIT!"

Sensei groaned. " _Bakugou_ ," he said warningly.

Katsuki scowled, collapsing back on his chair.

Aizawa-sensei sighed and turned to the boy. "You're in seat number 7."

Pikachu fucking smiled at him - a fake little upturn of his eyes, before dropping himself in his assigned desk.

"Anyway," Sensei continued, "we're having a special hero informatics class today."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. ' _A quiz? A test?'_

"Code names."

Katsuki grinned. ' _Interesting.'_

"This is related to the Pro-Hero drafts I talked about before," Aizawa continued, "they begin in earnest in the 2nd and 3rd year, when you have the training to be assets to the Pros, so the fact that they've extended offers to first-years like you means that they're interested in your potential. These offers can be cancelled if interest dies down by graduation."

"So we have to prove ourselves, huh," Invisible girl chimed.

"That's right," Aizawa agreed. He pressed a remote in his hand, numbers were projected on the board behind him. "They're generally more spread out, but all eyes were on these two this year."

_1st: Todoroki Shouto - 4123…_

_2nd: Bakugou Katsuki - 3556…_

_3rd: Tokoyami Fumikage - 360..._

"Uwah," Pikachu marvelled, "that's a big difference."

"Those Pros clearly don't know real talent," Sparkly-Bug-Eyes lamented.

"Ehh, Todoroki got the most offers even though he came second." Earphone-Jack-Ass pointed out.

"Probably because the Pros are scared of someone who had to be chained to the podium," Tape Face reasoned with a snicker.

"WELL IF THE PROS ARE FUCKING PANSIES THEN THAT'S THEIR FUCKING PROBLEM!" Katsuki yelled, scowling he looked back at the board. Pikachu, despite tieing for third, only had fifty offers. Deku had none.

"You'll have the opportunity to do in an Internship with a Pro," Sensei continued, "which is why we're doing Hero Names. They may only be temporary but if you're not serious about them-"

"-you'll have  _hell_  to pay later!"

Midnight slammed the door open, smirking as she strutted through. "Hello  _1-A_ , I'm here to help you create your  _Hero Names!"_

Sensei yawned, pulling out a sleeping bag. "She'll help you out, I'm not the best at this stuff." He disappeared underneath the desk.

"Alright," Midnight gave the class flirty wink while pointing to a pile of whiteboards in the corner. "Time to get a  _ride_  on, my  _minions_."

Whiteboards were passed down the class.

"Make sure your names embody the hero  _you_  want to be," the teacher reminded, "you'll have the option to change it before you graduate, but these names tend to stick."

Katsuki stared at his whiteboard.  _'Embody the hero you want to be, huh?'_  He spun the pen in his hand. ' _The best. That's what I want to be."_

He grinned, writing down his name with confidence.

"Alright," Midnight called out, "time to share?"

Sparkle-Spewer walked up first, revealing his board with a flourish. "The  _Shining Hero,"_ he grinned, " _I cannot stop twinkling!"_

Katsuki's pen snapped. ' _That's so...fucking dumb.'_

Midnight hummed. "That's fine just take out the  _I..._ maybe make it a  _n't_ …" She cleared her throat. "Alright, next?"

Katsuki fiddled with another pen as the other extras gave their names.

"Kirishima."

Shitty Hair walked over to the front desk, revealing his board. "The  _Sturdy Hero: Red Riot."_

"Oh," Midnight raised a finger, "you're paying homage to the  _Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot_ , right?"

Shitty Hair nodded sheepishly, "it's pretty old-fashioned, but it's the image I'm going for."

Midnight hummed. "Careful, if you're bearing a name you admire then that'll mean pressure."

Kirishima clenched his fist, eyes burning with determination. "I know."

Katsuki smirked. ' _Not bad Shitty Hair, not bad.'_

A few more extras gave their names.

"Todoroki."

IcyHot walked up to the front, turning his board around. "Shouto."

Katsuki tsched. ' _Using his own name, what a pansy.'_

"Bakugou."

He walked to the front of the room, slamming his board on the desk. " _King Explosion Murder"_

The whole class stared at him in silence. Midnight just sighed. "Maybe not that one…?"

He snapped towards her. "WHY THE HELL NOT?!"

Pikachu snickered. "Hero names are supposed to be reassuring - not suggest murder."

Shitty Hair clapped his hands. "Your name should be Explosion Boy!"

Katsuki scowled at them. "SHUT UP!"

Midnight sweatdropped. "Ah, let's move on."

* * *

"All right," Midnight smiled, "everyone decided on their Hero names except for Midoriya, Iida, Kaminari and Bakugou."

Tenya glanced down at his own board.

" _ **Tenya"**_

He clenched his fists, thinking back to the conversation he had had with his brother.

" _It's fine, Tenya," Tensei gave him a weak smile. "It's not like I'm dead or anything."_

" _B-But," Tenya stuttered, "y-your legs; they're_ _ **shattered!**_ "

 _Tenya laughed bitterly, glancing at his mummified legs. "They are, but the doctors are bringing in some professionals - with Healing Quirks - to see if they can help. Maybe I won't be able to continue my career, maybe I will. But if I don't," he turned to Tenya, holding out his hand, "I want you to take up my mantle as_ ' _ **Ingenium'**_ _." Tensei laughed, "if you want to, that is."_

_Tenya clasped his brother's hand. "If-If you cannot continue. I will do my best to fulfil your wishes."_

_Tensei smiled. "I'd like nothing more."_

"Iida?" Midnight called, "your Hero name?"

Tenya got up, walking to the front desk and turning his board around.

"Your own name?" Midnight questioned, "you're okay with that?"

Tenya grimaced. "Yes." ' _Tensei isn't finished yet.'_

Midnight sighed, "alright then, Midoriya?"

Tenya walked back to his desk as Midoriya got up. He froze when he heard the boy's Hero name. ' _Deku,'_  he remembered, ' _it was an insult, yet he's turning it into his Hero name.'_  Tenya gritted his teeth. ' _Midoriya...you really are amazing.'_

"Kaminari?"

Tenya looked towards the blonde boy, who was lounging in his seat, twirling a pen in his hand.

Kaminari didn't move from his desk, instead, he just flipped his board around where he was. " _Kakashi,"_  it read.

Midnight frowned. "Scarecrow? Why do you want to be called Scarecrow?"

Kaminari only smiled wistfully, "It would be nice to have that name."

Midnight shrugged. "Ah, well, if you're sure." She turned to Bakugou, "have you come up with a new name."

Bakugou stood up cockily, walking up to and slamming his board on the desk once more. " _Lord Explosion Murder!"_

Midnight sighed. "No, try again."

"WHAT!"

* * *

"Oi, Iida, what agency are you interning at?"

Tenya whipped around, startled, only to find Kaminari staring at him from his desk. "A-Ah," he stuttered, "Pro-Hero Native."

Kaminari hummed, "isn't that in Hosu?"

Tenya stiffened. ' _Did he realize…'_

"Ah, well," Kaminari smiled, "I guess I'll go there too."

Tenya stood up in surprise. "NO!" He froze, sitting back down and clearing his throat, before replying in a calmer manner, "I mean, you can't just intern at an agency because I am there, you

must choose one to your advantage."

"Ehhh," Kaminari pouted, "then why are you going to Native?"

"I...err," Tenya spluttered, "I have benefits like…"

Kaminari snorted. "See? Besides, I'm not that into this whole 'hero' thing yet," he smiled, "having a friend with me would make things a lot easier."

"I.." Tenya trailed off, before shaking his head and nodding. "Fine, if that is what you wish." He stood up, "I will turn my sheet in," he waved to the boy, "I will see you soon."

Tenya clenched his fist as Kaminari waved back, walking away from the classroom. ' _It's ok, I just need to ditch him as well, it's fine, I won't put him at risk.'_

He couldn't help but be aware of that sinking pool of guilt in his heart.

* * *

"Ah, Sasagawa-san."

Akari turned towards the boy running towards her. She slowed down on her way to the cafeteria. "Midoriya," she greeted dryly, "what can I do for you?"

The boy flushed. "I-I was just wondering who you'll be interning with."

Akari hummed. "Recovery Girl," she answered.

Midoriya looked at her thoughtfully. "That makes sense, I guess - you'll still be staying at school though."

Akari smirked. "Not quite, Recovery Girl's taking me out for some first-hand experience."

Midoriya smiled. "That's good."

"AKARI-SAN! OVER HERE!"

Akari glanced over at the little blond figure yelling at her from the cafeteria. She turned to Midoriya, "I best be going then."

Midoriya laughed. "I guess," he replied but started to frown as he watched Akari walk away. "Sasagawa-san," he called out.

Akari turned to him, one eyebrow raised, "Yes?"

"You're limping."

She smiled at him coldly. "You must be mistaken, I have a Healing Quirk."

Midoriya's frown deepened, "But-"

"I'll see you later," she cut in, quickening her pace towards Eri. And if she still leaned too much on one leg, well, no one else needed to know.

* * *

" _The Nomu will attack at some point next week"_

" _\What is my role?"_

" _Wander around, kill a hero or two, I don't care. You have to be an NPC before you become a party member."_

 _A velvety voice spook. "And what should I do,_ _**Tomura?"** _

"  _Sensei told me to tell you to not get into too much trouble. So stay away."_

_A pout. "What about little hawks? He's going to be bored without me."_

" _We're targeting Hosu, not Fukuoku."_

_A mock grumble. "Fine," a pause, "will little Caduceus be joining me?"_

_A snort. "You've damaged her enough already."_

" _You were more than obliging a few days ago."_

" _Shut up."_

" _Caduceus is that other villain, right?"_

" _Don't tell you've grown attached? Felt pity after seeing her miserable state?"_

" _Shut up-"_

" _Pity has no place with villains, Tomura, you would do well to remember that."_

* * *

"Sooo," Denki smiled at Iida, who sat stiffly on the train next to him "How's life?"

"Not the best."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

" _Because."_

"Because of….come on, finish the sentence."

Iida scowled at him, turning away from Denki. "You know  _full well why._  So  _shut up!"_

Denki wolf-whistled. "Oooo, feisty." Of course, he knew why Iida was upset, and he also knew what Iida wanted to do in Hosu. Which was why he came, well, partly. He also needed to check up on Stain. "Iida?" He called. The boy boy didn't respond.

The pair sat in silence for the rest of the train ride.

' _Arriving at Hosu station.'_

Denki got up, gesturing for Iida to follow. "Come on," he said, "we've got an internship to get to."

* * *

Tenya didn't know what to think of his internship so far. Native himself had been as he expected, a decent hero, and a decent man. He tried his best to help Tenya and Tenya could appreciate that.

They both knew Tenya would be better suited to another internship, they both knew he had other reasons for being here. They both knew there was something off.

Kaminari was here because of him, apparently, Tenya being his only friend in 1-A made him his  _bestest buddy._

Tenya wondered if the boy suspected his true motives. He wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"OI, KAKASHI, DON'T GO WALKING AROUND THE STREET WITH PORN STUCK TO YOUR FACE - IT'S DISGRACEFUL!"

A pout. "But Native, it's a  _limited edition."_

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER!"

Or perhaps Tenya would be.

"But I'm to this really good scene where the boy pushes the girl onto a-"

Surprised, that is

* * *

Tensei was surprised, to say the least when Recovery Girl came up into his ward with a young girl - one about Tenya's age.

"Ingenium," Recovery Girl greeted him, "this is Sasagawa Akari, you may call her Iaso, her Hero Name."

Tensei nodded at the pair, smiling at the girl good-naturedly. "Nice to meet you." Iaso, the Greek goddess of recuperation in illness. He could guess why she was here.

Recovery Girl sighed. "Iaso, as you might have guessed, has a Healing Quirk, much more powerful than my own. We are yet to know her limits, so we were going to have her partake in a series of tests, however," she stared at him, eyes flickering to his bandaged legs, "you are in a position that needs a miracle, so we will see if her Quirk can be that miracle." She motioned for the girl to stand next to him, as she did several doctors and nurses bustled into the room, checking his vitals and fixing his IV. The staff hovered over the girl as well, attaching various devices to her.

"You're taking a lot of precautions," Tensei noted.

Recovery Girl grimaced. "With such a big task, it is unknown whether a recoil will happen to the healer or the patient. But both have you expressed a will to take such risks, can I confirm that?"

Tensei and the girl nodded. She sighed. "Very well then. Iaso, begin when you are ready."

The girl, no, Iaso, stared at him intently, grimacing before moving closer and-

-kissing him. A teenage girl was kissing him, a Pro-Hero. Tensei might have laughed, or spluttered, or pushed her off, But all he could do was writhe.

His legs, it was as if they had been set aflame, like they were trying and trying and trying to piece themselves back together. Iaso pushed onto him harder and Tensei was vaguely aware of her throwing off the equipment attached to her. He started to feel a distinct metallic taste creep down his throat.

' _Blood,'_  Tensei realized. The pain in his legs eased into soothing, numbing sensation. Like shattered fragments weren't being forced as much as they were being coaxed. He found himself observing the girl in front of him - who had clambered onto his bed at some point, highly inappropriate. Her face was scrunched up into some sort of pained concentration and her hands clung onto his shoulders. A few minutes went by before she let go.

' _Slow and steady,'_  Tensei reminded himself as he carefully ventilated. The pain had all but disappeared from his legs, in its place almost blissful dizziness. He was vaguely aware of panicked shouting circulating the room.

"What happened?" He asked a frantic doctor, once he gained his bearings. Recovery Girl and Iaso were nowhere in sight.

The woman flinched, shakily grabbing a mirror from a cabinet. "Look," she said.

Tensei glanced at himself. Blood was dripping from his mouth, adding to a puddle that was already soiling his blue patient shirt.

A sinking feeling hit him, when he realized the blood wasn't his.


	20. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hrfgbcvwhtrsgbdv

* * *

 

Akari ran. She ran and ran and ran. The blurry scene of the hospital soon escaped her, leaving her in the clasp of a bustling street. ' _Crap,'_  she thought, ' _crapcrapcrap-'_

"OI, KID," a pedestrian yelled at her, "GET OF THE STREET."

She stiffened at the cry, eyes darting around her surroundings before retreating into an alley.

' _Ok,'_  Akari pushed herself on a wall, sliding down to the ground, her legs hugged against her chest. ' _Ok, it's fine, it's fine, I'm fine.'_ she was shaking, ' _I'll heal. It's fine. It was just an act,'_ , her hand was still bleeding, ' _I shouldn't have healed him. I should have left him,'_  her cheeks were wet, ' _but it'll just make them trust me more,' s_ he wiped the dried blood off her lips., ' _make them think I'm a heroic person,'_ she closed her eyes _,_  ' _it's fine.'_

"Kid?"

She glanced up, a massive balloon-like figure was towering over at her, a concerned frown resting on his face. ' _BMI Hero: Fatgum,'_  she realized blearly, recognizing the bright orange suit and the morbidly obese figure it clung too.

"Are you ok?" The hero asked, attempting to sit down in the narrow alley. "Are you lost? Do you need a hand home? Why are you upset? Did you have a fight with your parents? Friends? Or..." He waggled his eyebrows, "your  _boyfriend?"_

Akari, despite everything, laughed. A bitter laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

Fatgum smiled at her. "See, that's more like it." His smile turned into a frown. "That's...an awful amount of blood on you? Do you need to see a doctor?"

She shook her head. "No," she stood up, grimacing at her blood-stained costume, a nurse based uniform with pockets full of medical equipment, "it's old, there's no point now."

The hero eyed the dry blood warily. "I see…" He held out a hand, "in any case, I'll walk you home."

Akari gave him a strained smile. "I'm good thanks."

He shook his head. "I  _insist."_ The hero grabbed Akari's hand and stood up, gently dragging her out of the alley.

Akari sputtered after him as the hero pulled her along the streets. "W-Wait, I don't, really-"

"Have a place to go?" Fatgum finished, frowning at her.

Akari flushed. "A-Ahh," she glanced around her, ' _they wouldn't have followed her here, right?'_  She grimaced. ' _Probably.'_ Akari pulled her hand from the hero's grasp.

He frowned at her. "Where are you-"

"I-I have to go."

She ran.

* * *

Tomura scowled at Kurogiri over the bar counter. "Where is she?"

Kurogiri sighed. "Fulfilling her mission."

He pouted. "But she's our  _healer_ , she should be  _here_."

Kurogiri just continued cleaning his wine glass. "But she also has other responsibilities."

Tomura kicked the chair next to him. "No  _fair_ , she should be with the party when the party has a mission. Not with the NPC's." He clenched a fist. "I bet that stupid Phoenix scared her off."

Kurogiri snorted. "I doubt that. She should be used to it by now."

Tomura started scratching his hand. "No. She's never done that big of a job. It must have required a lot of fluid. And a lot of pain."

Kurogiri paused in his cleaning. "Perhaps," he studied the other villain for a second, "are you...concerned for her?"

"No."

Kurogiri hummed. "That's right, Sensei found her right after he found you."

Tomura scowled, scratching faster. "So?"

"I suppose," the warp-villain continued, " you've never seen her take as much damage for a job as you have this one. She  _did_  practically revive him from an almost dead state," Kurogiri narrowed his eyes, "and you underestimated the amount of pain required for such a task."

Tomura glared at the villain. "I  _thought_  she was used to it," he sneered, "clearly she's as weak as she was when she first came here.

Kurogiri hummed. "So the Phoenix was right. You  _do_ pity her."

Tomura scowled. "I don't-"

"It's fine to be concerned about your allies," Kurogiri interrupted, "but only invest concern when you know that investment will be profitable. In her case, well, a Healing Quirk is certainly valuable. But considering her Quirk is made more effective by her own agony, it is best that you...distance yourself from any sympathy with her. She is, effectively, a tool at the moment. She provides you with bodily fluids that heal, and we do not kill her. It's as simple as that."

Tomura stopped scratching. "Sensei always tells me to inspire others loyalty. Or give them something others can't."

Kurogiri only sighed. "Caduceus is not stupid enough to follow someone who caused her so much pain in blind loyalty. The only thing keeping her here is fear, she's been forced in too deep to be accepted by the heroes at this point."

Tomura scowled. "I know that. Knowing her longer doesn't make her any less annoying"

Kurogiri just grabbed another glass, studying the other villain as he started scratching his other arm. ' _I doubt that,'_ he thought,  _'she_ _ **is**_   _one of the few people you can touch for long without killing.'_ He sighed. ' _What a twisted relationship.'_

"Oi Kurogiri."

He looked up. "Yes?"

Tomura was now pacing the bar. "...I'm going to ask Sensei for some Nomus."

Kurogiri raised an eyebrow. "So soon?" ' _So suddenly?'_

Bloodshot eyes creased upward. "If I'm going to ' _inspire'_ people, I need to make a statement."

Kurogiri smiled. "So be it."

* * *

"Iiiiidaa, you keep disappearing. Native told us to stick  _together_."

Tenya exhaled in frustration as his companion caught up with him once more. " _Kaminari,"_ he smiled over clenched teeth, "I apologise, I tend to speed up when excited"

Kaminari only gave him a stupid smile. "That's fine, Iida. I  _forgive_ you."

Tenya laughed awkwardly. "Thank you…" ' _How did he catch up so fast?'_

"Sooo," Kaminari jogged alongside him, looking particularly odd in his UA gym uniform, as they 'patrolled' through the streets of Hosu, "Native said to be on the lookout for small-time criminals while he dealt with that villain." The boy said.

"I know," Tenya replied, eyeing the streets for possible exits, "I was there when he told us."

Kaminari hummed. "You seem quite tense about confronting small villains," his voice dropped to a whisper, "it's almost as if you think you're about to confront a  _powerful_ villain." He laughed. "But that's impossible."

Tenya gritted his teeth. "Yeah, impossible." ' _He knows.'_

Kaminari smiled. "So-"

" _AHHHHH!"_

The pair turned around to a sight of panic. Hordes of civilians were staggering past them, repelled by the sight of a monstrous creature crawling out of the remains of a now demolished building. Sickly green arms grabbed people at random, hurling them around like a child would a toy.

Tenya eyed the familiar bare brain that the creature boasted. ' _It's like that thing at USJ,'_ he realised. Tenya turned to Kaminari, who was studying the beast intently, paying no attention to Tenya himself.

He grimaced as an idea came to mind.

' _I'm sorry.'_

He ran.

* * *

' _Stain tends to 'patrol' in dark alleyways or tight narrow spaces. He always goes for a one-on-one confrontation. He doesn't usually harm civilians._ '

Tenya had a rough idea of where he needed to go. With all the commotion, both Kaminari and Native should be sufficiently distracted to keep them from going after him. As terrible as it was, the situation was perfect for him.

Tenya scowled as he ran into another empty dead-end. ' _Where is_ _ **he**_ _?'_ He moved to turn around but a scratching voice halted him in his tracks.

"What's a brat like you doing, running around at such a perilous time."

Tenya glanced up. Hero Killer Stain was scowling at him from a rooftop, his legs crouched and face sullen, billowing out behind was the notorious flash of a crimson scarf. Tenya could hear himself gulp. ' _This is too real.'_

The villain himself only eyed Tenya's costume in disdain, resting a hand on his face as he pointed out boredly. "Shouldn't a  _hero-in-training_  be helping with that mess the League caused?"

Tenya felt his muscles clench in irritation, clenching a fist before calmly replying, "I am here to extract revenge on behalf of my brother, Ingenium."

Stain stared at him for a couple seconds before cackling. "Revenge," he chortled, "of course it's revenge." The villain sneered, "you really are living proof of how far heroes have fallen."

Tenya saw red, as irritation rotted to anger. He sped up the wall, gear raised higher as he pushed off a window frame and rocketed towards the villain.

Stain lazily stepped to the side, avoiding his kick with ease. The man sighed. "I would have really liked to kill you, you know. But  _he_ said I couldn't. So, " the villain darted towards him, sword outstretched. Tenya felt a sting across his cheek.

"I think I'll just leave." A tongue slid out to caress the blood painted blade.

Tenya froze, involuntary, an arm outstretched and the other clasped against the metal of his costume. His feet were rooted. ' _I-I can't move!'_

The villain sneered at him. " _Pathetic_." He turned to leave, scarf already swishing in the bare breeze.

' _WAIT!'_ Tenya wanted to say, ' _YOU CRIMINAL YOU VILLAIN MY BROTHER DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO DESERVE WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!'_ Raw emotion lay trapped within him, as he tried and tried to move. Nothing happened, and he could only watch, as blood-stained fabric roiled behind the man he wished dead.

"KRAAH!"

A mangled cry broke him out of his daze, closely following it came the shadow of a winged creature that circled in front of him, one that made its appearance known in a lunge groundward, claws hooking onto the pavement right in front of Tenya. He eyed the creature in alarm, sharpening at the familiar bare brained look the creature held. ' _I can't defend myself,'_ he realized in panic, ' _I can't do anything and I'm up against a_ _ **Nomu**_ _.'_

"Oh? One of Shiragaki's pets found you, huh." Stain had turned around, now eyeing him in fascination. "I wonder if it'll kill you?"

All Tenya could do was stare and ' _hopehopehopehope someone save me.'_

"...Iida?"

Stain glanced to the side, the crease of his forehead lifting as he did. "And who are you?" The man asked derisively.

If Tenya's eyes weren't paralysed they would have widened. Because standing at the edge of the rooftop, scruffy and bloodied, was Sasagawa Akari.

* * *

"So she just...disappeared?"

Recovery Girl nodded, grabbing another set of syringes as he did. "Fatgum said he found a girl crying an alleyway, so start there."

Pro-Hero Manual sighed. "What luck, especially in all this chaos."

The nurse scowled. "Don't think I don't know that. Because of all the patients flooding in I can't move an inch from here, so I'm leaving the task of finding Sasagawa to you."

Manual nodded, giving the old woman a salute, "I won't let you down."

Recovery Girl grimaced. "I'd hope not."

* * *

"Iida...Stain…Nomu..." Saasgawa's head darted back and forth from the three figures. "...what?"

Stain disappeared from where he was standing, appearing again right in front of the girl. He grabbed her chin roughly, "that voice…" He muttered, examining her face more closely, "that voice, I've heard it somewhere."

Tenya felt his metaphorical jaw drop as Sasagawa simply swatted the man's hand away, staring at him coldly and replying, "I thought you targeted heroes, not pre-teen girls."

The villain only grinned. "Villains aren't known gentlemen," he laughed, retreating back to his original position and plonking himself on the ground. "This will be  _interesting_."

' _Ah, right.'_ Tenya's focus returned to the Nomu in front of him. Strangely enough, it hadn't moved from its spot, only positioning itself slightly in Sasagawa's direction, as if it were waiting for something.

He heard the girl audibly gulp.

"Ah," she inched towards the beast, it didn't move, she started to run, it still didn't move, she jumped and drop kicked it.

"KWAAH!"

The creature flailed around for a couple seconds before bulging eyes focused on Sasagawa. It flew towards her, this time claws bared.

Sasagawa clasped onto knobby wrists as they grabbed for her, feet digging into the pavement as she quickly chucked it onto a nearby railing. The Nomu only remained daunted by the throw for a couple seconds, diving back towards the girl almost immediately after.

Tenya internally winced as the fight progressed. To Sasagawa's credit, she held her own extremely well for someone who's Quirk was essentially useless, but, as expected, it could only do so much.

"KWRAH!" The beast grabbed Sasagawa by the shoulders and, avoiding her attempts to kick its face, began to fly off.

Tenya could only watch.

"SASAGAWA-SAN!"

Green lightning flickered past buildings, a figure jumped and kicked the Nomu onto the ground, forcing it to let go of Sasagawa in the process.

Midoriya looked at them worriedly. "I'm not late, am I?."

* * *

Denki groaned as he received a location from Midoriya on the 1-A group chat. Of course, he tried to go find Iida.  _Of course._

Denki sighed, holding out his phone as he began to run to the specified location. He began to type.

…

 

_ -Today- _

 

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_ If you kill them I swear you are going to regret it. _

…

Only a couple seconds later.

…

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ I’m not the one doing the killing here. _

…

 

Denki frowned.

…

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_ Don’t tell me the Nomus got them. _

 

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ Bingo. _

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_ They better be alive when I get there. _

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ No promises. _

_ Oh, there’s another one. _

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_ Who? _

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ Endeavours brat. _

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_...if they’re dead then you die with them. _

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ They only have to be alive? _

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_I would appreciate it if all their limbs are attached as well._

_Who exactly are there?_

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ Revenge-boy, all-might-junior-green, healing-girl, and endeavour-brat. _

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_...tf I’ll be there asap but they better be alive. _

**JUSTANOTHERASSHOLE:**

_ They’re all doing pretty well actually, revenge-boy has reformed his revenge ideals in a span of 2 minutes thanks to all-might-junior-green. I’d probs still kill him though. Endeavour-brat’s not to bad as well. For amateurs, they’re quite good. _

**JUSTAGUYWITHBLIMPLIPS:**

_ fddwsczx  _

_..._

 

Denki could only see sigh as observed the scene in front of him. Four high-schoolers taking on a designer mutant villain that most Pro-Heroes struggled to face. Casually watching them with a phone out was another A-Rank villain with an unfortunate habit of killing heroes. Nothing dangerous about this situation at all.

Denki silently groaned as he discreetly scaled a higher building, scanning the scene from above. Once a decent way up, he fished out a small metal knife from his pocket. Closing one eye, he flung the object, watching as it sailed and lodged itself onto the Nomu's head. The knife was unnoticeable to his classmates, and the Nomu appeared all but unbothered by the mini chunk of metal wedged onto it. Of course, that was the point.

Denki closed his eyes, mind for once clear, and he let the beginnings of his Quirk startup, building up a steady flow of electrons but not letting them move.

The Nomu, unaware and unthinking, began to fly closer to him.

' _Now.'_

A bright white flash of light branched through the air, lodging itself into the Nomu's head where the piece of metal lay guiltily. The beast exploded, the sound of thunder following shortly after.

Denki quickly scaled down from the building, he hid behind another apartment and studied the scene in front of him.

Stain was laughing. "I can't believe you brats are  _this_  lucky," he cackled, "getting struck by lightning,  _hah_ , classic."

"What?" Todoroki frowned, "that's impossible, the weather's fine."

Stain snorted. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You guys are lucky enough as it is."

Midoriya, still covered in green sparks, braced himself against Stain, "you're...you're not going to kill us?"

Stain smirked. "If I wanted too I would have done it ages ago." He stood up, stretched, and began to walk off.

"WAIT!"

The villain turned around, eyes landing mirthfully on Iida. "You. What do you want?"

Iida trembled. "You injured my brother, he might lose his career now...why? He was a good hero, why did he deserve that."

Stain grinned. "The only hero I'll acknowledge, is All Might." He paused as he came up to the edge of the rooftop, giving the group one last smirk, before stepping off.

Judging by the lack of ' _splat'_  sound, Denki assumed he made his way off alright,

"...we let him get away." Sasagawa stared blankly at the place Stain disappeared from.

Todoroki grimaced, "we wouldn't have had a chance against him in our current state," he gripped Iida's shoulder reassuringly, the boy had dropped to his knees, "I'm sorry Iida."

Iida wiped the tears from his eyes. "No,  _I'm_ sorry," he placed his head on the ground, "I'm  _so so_  sorry."

Both Midoriya and Sasagawa knelt down beside the boy, Midoriya patting him reassuringly and Sasagawa starting to bandage the boy's injuries.

Denki decided to make his entrance.

"Yo, am I late?"

Todoroki stared at him for a couple seconds before sighing. "Very, but I suppose that's a good thing."

Midoriya looked in surprise. "Kaminari, what are you doing here?"

Denki held out his phone, on it a picture of a map with a place marked.

Midoriya laughed sheepishly. "Ah, right," he paused, "hey, Kaminari, what colour is your Quirk?"

Denki tilted his head. "Gold. Why?"

Midoriya nodded over at the charred Nomu corpse. "A flash of I think lightning killed it, but I suppose your Quirk is more electricity than lightning."

Denki shrugged, "I guess." He walked over to Iida and flicked him on the forehead. "Abandoning your partner isn't very nice, you know, you owe me an ice cream now."

Iida glanced up at him and grinned weakly. "I think I owe you all much more than that." He grimaced at all their injuries. "A  _lot_  more."

"AH, SASAGAWA, I FOUND YOU!" Pro-Hero Manual grinned at them in his wetsuited glory as he jumped onto the rooftop, closing following him was a familiar rotund figure.

' _BMI Hero: Fatgum and Normal Hero: Manual,'_  Denki noted.

Todoroki glanced at the girl, who looked rather sheepish, and raised an eyebrow, "care to explain?" He pressed.

She laughed awkwardly, slowly turning to Iida. "I healed your brother, by the way, through slightly questionable methods, but I healed him. And then I ran away."

"W-Wha-"

Fatgum grabbed Sasagawa's hand, holding it tightly as he explained, "a lot of blood was involved, apparently, it gave everyone a good scare." He gripped tighter. "You have an awful lot of explaining to do, young lady."

The girl only scowled at the pair of heroes, but Denki took note of the fidgeting hand clasping nervously onto her costume.

"What's this?" Manual was eyeing the Nomu's corpse with obvious concern. "Don't tell me that's a…"

"Nomu," Todoroki finished.

Fatgum sweatdropped. "This...just got a lot more complicated, didn't it?"

* * *

"So you guys fought a flying Nomu while the Hero Killer watched you and then a bolt of lightning struck the thing and Stain disappeared."

Todoraki nodded at the detective. "That pretty much sums it up."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa pressed a hand against his temple. "I...see." ' _Why do I wish that was a lie?'_

"A bolt of lightning, huh?" Shouta was staring hard at one particular at one masked student in particular.

Kaminari glared at Shouta like he personally offended him. "My Electricity is  _gold_ , don't mistake it for some tacky  _white_."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa held out his hands in a placating manner. "Ok, ok, let's not argue here."

"Where is Sasagawa?" Todoroki asked

Naomasa looked over at the dual-coloured boy, wincing slightly as he said, "Sasagawa's situation is...different. Let's just say there's more to it than her confrontation with the Nomu."

Todoroki seemed satisfied with that answer, letting his eyes float over to a certain glasses-wearing student. Naomasa let out a sigh of relief. ' _That's a can of worms I'm not touching.'_

"...will we be expelled?" Iida bunched up his bedsheets in his fists, still not looking anyone in the eye. "If so...can you just expel me?"

"NO!" Midoriya leapt to the boy's defence immediately. "We're just as at fault as you are."

"We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Todoroki chimed, "and I did call the Pros, they just didn't come in time."

Naomasa winced and Shouta just sighed in response. "It's...complicated."

"Very complicated." The furry face of Tsuragamae Kenji spoke, as the man himself entered the hospital room, following close behind were the heroes Gran Torino and Native.

Naomasa stood up to greet the Chief of Police Force. "Sir," he greeted as he bowed.

Tsuragamae only nodded, turning his focus onto the students sitting in the hospital. "Your actions yesterday were, by all technicalities, against the law." He stared at Iida, "Not only did you seek out a villain without a license you did so with the exact instruction  _not_  to, regardless of whether you faced the villain or not your encounter led to a battle with another villain." He turned to Midoriya and Todoroki. "You two decided to seek out your classmate with the knowledge he might be confronting a villain far above the level of many Pro-Heroes." His eyes roamed over them all. "Your actions were as brave as they were stupid, as the Chief of Police I cannot condone them." The dog-faced took a deep breath, "however, with the knowledge of the unlikeliness of this situation, we can say, as you did not intend to face the Nomu, that this was an act of self-defence."

"You're letting us get away with this?" Todoroki looked doubtful.

Shouta scowled. "You three are on thin ice at the moment, what you did was reckless and illegal" he paused, "but the intentions were...in good heart, so you guys are getting away with a slap on the wrist for now."

Todoroki glanced over at Kaminari. "What about him and Sasagawa, what happens to them?"

Kaminari straightened at that.

Naomasa scratched the back of his head tiredly, " well, this situation is being swept under the rug so it'll be best to involve as few people as possible. Kaminari, despite having similar intentions, wasn't actually involved and Sasagawa's appearance was purely accidental."

"I'm sorry," they all turned to Iida, who was still staring at his bed. No one missed the tears that fell, or the clenched fist. "It was all rather pointless," he continued bitterly, "In the end, Tenseu turned out to be fine, and I," he glanced at the casts Todoroki and Midoriya were wrapped in, "just made everything  _worse_."

No one said anything. To say Iida was wrong would be a lie, but it didn't make the pill any less bitter to swallow.

It was Kaminari who spoke next. "I mean, I'm totally cool with all this as long you get me some ice cream."

Midoriya grinned softly. "Ice-cream sounds nice, consider your debt fulfilled."

"I like green tea." Todoroki chimed.

Gran Torino huffed. "Disgraceful, vanilla is far superior."

"I mean vanilla's not  _bad_ ," Native said thoughtfully, "but I've always been more chocolate."

Naomasa hummed. "Personally, I'm more strawberry."

"Really?" Tsuragamae looked surprised, "I pegged as you as more vanilla."

"I don't like ice cream," Shouta said dryly.

Iida started to smile slightly, only for the door to burst open.

"TENYA!"

Iida froze, because  _standing_ at the door in full hospital-gown glory, was Ingenium.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: btw, I just realised Manual was the one who took Iida as an intern not Native, so, oops.
> 
> Cheers


	21. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fdzscv rgfdbvv

 

"TENYA!"

Iida froze, because  _standing_ at the door in full hospital-gown glory, was Ingenium.

' _Oh boy,'_ Naomasa thought, eyeing the pair nervously.

"N-Nii-san," Iida stuttered, clambering out of his bed, "NII-SAN!" The boy ran and hugged the hero, trembling as he did. "I'm sorry," he chanted, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Tensei only smiled softly, calmly patting the boy's head with one hand and hugging him back with the other

" _Ah-hem,"_ Shouta cleared his throat, "perhaps we should…"

Naomasa nodded, standing up as he did, motioning for the other students to do the same.

They all left the room, moving into one of the bigger hospital spaces.

"So," Kaminari asked, plonking himself down on a couch, 'what now?"

"Well," Shouta began, leaning on a wall, "since nobody here was injured too severely, you'll all be able to leave the hospital by the end of the day."

Gran Torino looked over at Midoriya , "your internship isn't over yet, brat, so you're stuck with me," he glanced at Todoroki, "I assume the same will apply to you."

Native sighed, looking over at Kaminari, "I mean, I'd like to take you two on again but this whole thing has been...well, I know I'm going to have to take responsibility for it."

Midoriya glanced at Gran Torino, "don't tell me…"

The man huffed. "My teaching licence's gonna be revoked after this."

Midoriya bowed his head sheepishly. "Sorry…"

"So what happens to me and Iida?" Kaminari asked, chin coming to rest on his hand as he observed the adults boredly.

Shouta sighed, hand pressed against his temple. "I assume Iida would like to spend some time with his family, as for you...well, I suppose you can come back with me, train at UA with Shinsou."

"Oh?" Kaminari raised an eyebrow, "you took Shinsou on?"

Shouta gruffed haughtily, "that's not the point."

"Anyway," Tsuragamae interrupted, "I suppose we get going now, leave the students to rest."

The heroes and detective nodded, all of them getting up once more. Naomasa smiled at the kids, "I'll see you around, hopefully for another reason."

Midoriya smiled at the adults, waving thankfully as he said. "Bye."

Kaminari and Todoroki simply nodded at them, the former even giving them a cheery salute.

Naomasa sighed as he exited the space, smiling at Iida as the boy walked towards the other students.

_'They're good kids'_

* * *

Akari flinched as Recovery Girl inspected her once more, eyes combing through her skin as the woman searched for bruises that didn't exist.

Recovery Girl sighed, putting down Akari's arm, which she quickly dug under the covers. "You're not...injured, from what I can tell," the woman hummed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "I suppose that makes sense," she mused, "considering your Quirk."

Akari shifted uncomfortably on the bed she had been forced in, making sure to eye the nurse nervously as she hovered around the hospital room.

The woman frowned at her shifty expression, coming to stand next to her bed again as she adjusted her covers, "if you're worried about your friends, they're fine," Recovery Girl sighed, "you are to, in terms of legal repercussions."

"Ah," Akari glanced at the wall away from the nurse, "that's...good." ' _I completely forgot about that. Oops'_

"So," the nurse pointed her giant-walking-needle-stick in her face, "what happened, with Ingenium,"

Akari fiddled with her hands nervously under her covers. "I-I don't know," she stuttered, "it just...happened, instinct, I guess."

The nurse hummed, "instinct, huh, I suppose you're not alone in that, in terms of developing your Quirk." She sighed. "Alright, tell me what you found out."

Akari hugged her knees, curling into a ball underneath her sheets, her voice stuttering as she said, "I-I think, I don't need to kiss people to heal them, I think, I just need to give them my body fluid."

Recovery Girl exhaled in relief. "That...makes sense, and better than I initially thought. For a minute there I thought you needed to be injured to heal serious wounds."

Akari laughed awkwardly. "Y-Yeah."  _'The hell, are you psychic lady?'_

Recovery Girl smiled reassuringly at her. "Well, Ingenium has been healed thanks to you, so I give you my best thanks." She frowned, "but don't run off again, ok?"

Akari nodded dutifully.

The woman sighed. "Well, I'll be off then," she left the room.

Akari let out a sigh of relief once the door closed. She bounded out of bed and moved to the edge of the room, taking her phone with her. Akari dialed a number.

" _Yes?"_  The phone answered.

"Oi, Giri-san," she hissed, "it's me."

" _Is there a reason you're using that ridiculous nickname?"_

She rolled her eyes. "I'm in a hospital, idiot."

" _...you called me in a public space?"_

She tsched. "I'm in the security camera's blind spot, and they don't record audio here."

" _Then why the nickname?"_

"Precaution," she replied. It was true. Partially.

" _Why did you call?"_

"They're watching me," she answered, "so I won't be able to come for a while, so I'm giving you my report now."

" _And…"_

"Stain, he met a UA student but didn't kill him. He didn't help him when the student was attacked by the Nomu either. Why?"

Kurogiri hummed. " _Stain has very...particular ideals, I suppose he must not of seen it fit to murder the boy. I heard you helped the boy."_

Akari rolled her eyes. "There wasn't any harm not to, helping around establishes trust, you know."

" _If you had left him perhaps he would have just died on his own, that way we would have had one less hero to deal with it."_

"Unlikely," she answered, "Midoriya, and later Todoroki came looking for him."

" _I see,"_  she could imagine Kurogiri's thoughtful expression, " _In the end, how was the Nomu killed?"_

Akari tensed slightly. "...a lightning bolt."

" _Really?"_ The man sounded unconvinced, " _and do you know what caused it?"_

Her mind flickered to Kaminari. "...no," she replied.

" _Is that so,"_ a hum, " _how interesting, that aside, I heard that some knowledge of your Quirk has been compromised. I heard you healed Ingenium."_

She clenched her fist. "Only the body fluid part, and the Ingenium thing was unintional, besides it made them trust me more."

" _I see,"_ she could hear the frown in his voice, " _that's two heroes you've saved. You're not switching sides, are you?"_

Akari forced out a laugh. "Of course not, you'd kill me if I did."

" _Good to hear. Me and Tomura will expect a more thorough update once you've been discharged."_ The call hung up.

_*clank*_

Akari bent down to pick up the dropped phone, hand trembling as she did. She felt something wet drip onto her palm.

"Why am I crying?" She glanced at her quivering arm, "and shaking too, god," her legs gave way, her whole body was shivering now, Akari let out a shaky laugh, "I really am pathetic." She clenched a fist, "but I suppose it's not completely my fault, that I'm in this mess."

~~" _Your Quirk is very useful, dear, Mummy's very proud."_~~

~~" _I'm sorry sweetie, I'm a bit short on cash, I'll get you super cool birthday gift next year!"_~~

~~" _There's a very nice man who wants to meet you, he's interested in your Quirk."_~~

~~" _I'll come get you in a year, Akari, he'll take care of you, don't worry, Mummy won't leave you like Papa did."_~~

~~" _I'm sorry. I was wrong. I didn't know. Please forgive me. I didn't know. I'm sorry. They're going to kill me, Akari. I'm sorry. I'm so so so so sorry."_~~

~~_**i'M sO SoRry** _ ~~

Akari sighed as her shaking dwindled, clasping at her phone. ' _That stupid, naive woman."_ She rubbed her eyes. ' _I still love her, as idiotic as she was."_ She sighed again,pressing her phone against her forehead. ' _I suppose a Quirk like mine was bound to attract attention anyway .'_

* * *

"So Stain didn't kill anyone, huh," Phoenix laughed, "well that was pointless, wasn't it, you wasted those Nomus. I thought the whole point was for Stain to 'inspire' people, and for that to be associated with the League of Villains."

All For One growled, his nasally voice snarling, "don't test my patience,  _Phoenix."_

Phoenix clicked his tongue mockingly, "now, now, let's stay calm, we don't want to  _aggravate_  your condition." His eyes roamed over the numerous amounts of equipment attached to the villain's body. "I must admit, the state you're in, it's almost pitiful. Such a shame that Akari girl can't heal you."

All For One tsched, a sneer in his voice as he said, "the only reason she could heal you was because of the nature of your Quirk, do not be so cocky, I can kill you anytime. "

Phoenix smiled, glancing at the numerous cameras observing the room, "so you say," he replied, "but we must admit you're not exactly in...peak condition."

"I put you in that half-dead state and took you out of it. Do not doubt my ability, even if I cannot steal your Quirk."

He laughed, "I wouldn't dare."

All For One sighed. "You're as insufferable as you were back then."

Phoenix grinned nostalgically. "Those were the days, two criminal empires fighting for control, it was a shame to see them go."

"Mine is not quite dead yet," All For One reminded.

"Ah, but mine is," Phoenix lamented, "and it's not like I can regain it again, not with half my power."

"That is the difference between you and me," All For One glanced at the other man, puffing his chest out slightly, "conviction."

Phoenix hummed. "I suppose, but I must ask, a careful cunning man like you, why would you revive a wild card like me?"

All For One paused slightly. "I remember when we were young, you were almost...obsessed with the idea of alternative realities. One day, after we had fought, in fight-drunken spur you told me of a time you had once, by accident, teleported into a warzone. One where men and women were fighting with powers Quirks could never replicate, and alongside them were nine...monsters. A fox, an octopus, a rhinoceros beetle, a slug, a horse, a monkey, a turtle, a cat, and a raccoon. "

Phoenix was silent for a moment. "Where are you going with this?" He asked, fists clenching white.

All For One chuckled. "Tomura told me an interesting story the other day. Something about some of his bases always getting trashed by the same group of vigilantes, ones with very odd Quirks. They all had mutant appearances. A fox, an octopus, a rhinoceros beetle, a slug, a white horse, a monkey, a turtle, a cat, and a raccoon."

Phoenix was trembling. "You-you're not kidding me, right?"

"Why would I?"

"I-I, don't, want-  _hah."_ He started to laugh, a grin twisting across his face. Tears of an impeccable crystal colour escaped his eyes, out of habit he began to collect them. "So it was real," he murmured, "it was all real." He turned to All For One, smile still stretched. "What are they called?"

The man grinned back. "The Biju."

Phoenix grinned, tongue stretching out to lick his lips. ' _This whole revival thing is turning out to be a lot more fun than I thought.'_

* * *

"I thought you said you were in Gen-Ed."

Denki raised an eyebrow at the Hero Killer. "Really?" He asked in disbelief, " _that's_  the thing you're worried about."

Stain scoffed, jumping down from the railing he had been sitting on. "I have principles, you know, and lying doesn't go far in them."

Denki leaned against the crumbling wall of an apartment. Sighing, he said, "I was in Gen-Ed when I told you that, they decided to transfer me."

Stain narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't sound very happy about it."

Denki glanced down at his hands, "I do not consider myself a hero, nor do I think I deserve that title."

Stain tsched. "Whatever you say," he paused, looking at Denki curiously, "that Nomu, you were the one who killed it, right?"

Denki smirked. "Perhaps," he said ambiguously.

"How?" Stain asked bluntly. "Your Quirk does not create lightning, it shouldn't be able to."

Denki raised an eyebrow. "You tell me."

Stain hummed contemplatively. "Lightning is caused by the difference in charge between a thundercloud and the ground, the earth being positive and the cloud being negative, thanks to the static between ice particles. The only way you could force lightning would be if you created a powerful negative charge using your Quirk, which would create a situation where lightning could form. The only problem would be the unpredictability of that lightning, you would have to draw it towards some sort of metal in order to aim it. " He glanced at Denki, "am I right."

Denki snapped two finger guns at the man, smiling. " _Ding ding,_ we have a  _winner!"_

Stain scoffed. "Not bad, kid, not bad."

Denki smirked in response."Thanks."

Stain sighed. "So why did you call me," he glanced at the moon in the sky, "and this late as well."

Denki pushed off the wall he was leaning on. "Let's take a trip, shall we?" He asked, hand already clinging high on the wall.

Stain raised an eyebrow, but followed along.

"You know," Denki began, as he scaled the building he had been leaning on, "the League of Villain was quite keen on having you as a member, do you know why?"

"...because I'm strong?" The man replied doubtfully, watching Denki closely as they leapt from building to building.

"Not just because of that," Denki glanced back at Stain, "you're charismatic."

"What?"

Denki sighed. "Think about it, you're powerful, you have strong ideals and you're smart. You have a story, a reason, you're the sort of person the media will shove in peoples face, You're  _inspiring._ "

"And?" Stain gruffed snidely.

Denki hummed. "Someone like you, should you make yourself known, will embolden the villains once more." He caught a glimpse of Stain's face, the man was scowling. "You figured it out, huh, all those emboldened villains will look to people you ally yourself with, the League of Villains." He stopped, "all right, we're here."

Stain glanced around the empty clearing in confusion. "What exactly are we doing here?"

Denki turned around, facing Stain with a smirk. "Fight me."

Stain raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's the point? Shouldn't you be able to hurt me with that stupid 'seal' of yours?"

Denki rubbed the bandaged part of his hand where the seal lay. "That's true," he admitted, "but I need to do this in order to keep up my own skills more than anything." He smiled. "Consider yourself my sparring partner."

Stain scoffed. "Alright then, don't blame me if you come out of this a couple limbs short."

Denki smirked, shifting into a defensive stance, "of course not."

Stain leapt towards him almost immediately, sword already outstretched. Denki, anticipating the move, swung to the side, dragging a leg out to kick the man in the stomach. Stain grimaced as the blow landed, skidding backwards with a scowl on his face.

"Not too shabby, brat." The man smirked.

Denki grinned. "Not too shabby yourself." He let the tingle of electricity elope him as he darted forward. ' _This,'_ Denki thought as he exchanged blows with the Hero Killer, ' _this is what I've been missing, the excitement,'_ he dodged a swing to his face, ' _the thrill,'_ he kicked the man's shin, ' _the adrenaline,'_  a punch towards his face, Denki grabbed the fist before it could make it contact, clasping into Stain's wrist and using it to pull himself forward. Denki grabbed the man's shoulders and tucked a foot under his thigh, using it flip the man over his shoulder, planting him firmly on the ground. Denki grabbed the sword before it fell and held it towards Stain's neck. "Surrender?" He asked, smile still prominent in his eyes.

Stain only laughed, eyes hovering down the almost blinding glow that enveloped Denki's body. "Sure." Denki let go, handing the man his sword. Stain eyed the boy thoughtfully. "You weren't fighting to your best."

Denki shrugged. "Neither were you, it's not like either one of us particularly want to kill each other."

Stain grinned. "You let yourself think that," he sat up from where he had been pushed down, tossing his sword nonchalantly between his hands. He studied Denki for a couple seconds, eyes narrowing as the boy casually plonked himself beside him, flinging open some garish orange book. Stain sighed. "Chizome. Call me Chizome."

Denki glanced at him over his book. "'K," he said nonchalantly, "you can call me Denki."

Chizome tsched. "Don't think I don't know why you wanted this fight, after all," he glanced down at his hands, "I respect those who I think deserve it, and you…" He sighed, "well, I suppose you earned it."

Denki grinned from underneath his book. "Aw, so  _Chizome_  has a soft side."

"HEY, PUT A -SAN NEXT TO THAT, BRAT!"

* * *

"Ah, I'm back." Denki ducked. Something whistled over his head, narrowly missing the tips of his hair, as he straightened he glanced back. Denki was greeted to the sight shattered china. ' _Ah,'_ he internally sweatdropped, ' _crap.'_ Resolutely keeping his eyes on the door, he tried to shuffle his way towards his and Eri's room.

" _And where do you think you're going?"_

A chill came over Denki as he slowly glanced forward. Bloodshot eyes greeted him.

"A-Ah," Denki stuttered, eyes focusing nervously on the floating scarf, "Aizawa-san, when did you-"

" _What time do you call this? And since when did you call me_ _ **-san**_ _?"_

Denki gulped. "S-Since now?"

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. " _Really_?"

Denki nodded feverently. "You see, I've just had this amazing moment of epiphany where I realized-"

Aizawa sighed as he prattled on. Bloodshot eyes faded, and the scarf receded back to its usual mess. Denki let out an internal sigh of relief.

"Alright," the man plonked himself on a couch, motioning for Denki to join him. "Let's hear what ridiculous story you came up with this time."

* * *

"You know, I saw Aizawa-sensei walking around the halls this morning, he seemed really pissed, I wonder why?"

Denki resolutely fixed his gaze on the window next to him. ' _Nope, nope, nope, not touching that can of worms with a stick.'_

He heard Kirishima hum thoughtfully. "Yeah, I saw him, he kept muttering about 'stupid non-extistent friends and stupid problems', or something like that, anyway."

Denki sweatdropped. ' _Ah right, Smith Noah, and now Harley James, I suppose.'_

"Hey, did you hear about the Nomus?"

A scoff. "Of course I did, it was everywhere."

A sigh. "Man, I wish I interned at Hosu, those things looked super strong, it'd be cool to fight them."

A snort. "You got a death wish or something? Those things were the same ones at USJ."

"Ooo, Bakugou, love the new hairstyle."

"SHUT UP!"

Denki smiled nostalgically as he listened to his classmates chatter, absentmindedly twirling a pencil in his hand. ' _Super cool, huh,'_  he sighed, ' _I suppose that's something chibi Naruto might have told me.'_

"Hey, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida, what happened in Hosu? You were there right?"

Denki sweatdropped. ' _They forgot about me."_

Midoriya laughed sheepishly, "Ahhh, nothing much we just helped escort some civilians, the Pros did all the fighting."

"Really? I thought-"

" _Ah-hem."_

The reaction was instantaneous, the class practically scampered to their seats. Denki huffed at the subtle self-satisfied look in Aizawa's eyes. ' _He's got these kids hanging by their toes.'_

"You guys are going to be doing a Foundational Hero Studies Class in one of the other training rooms," the hero drawled, "get changed and follow me."

The class began to excitedly chatter.

"Ah, Kaminari," Denki turned to Aizawa, who chucked a piece of paper at him. "It's for your Hero Costume," Aizawa explained, "for now you'll have to make do with the gym uniform, but fill it out as soon as you can," he looked Denki in the eye, "even if you don't intend to stay in the course, it'll come in handy."

Denki nodded, glancing back at the form. ' _Costume, huh.`A_  green spandex came to mind. He shivered. ' _As long as it's not that.'_

* * *

"Welcome to Field Gamma!" All Might announced, signature  _It-Is-I_ grin still plastered on his face. "A dense area filled with factories laid out in an intricate labyrinth!" The man explained.

Denki let out a low-whistle at the sight. ' _How big is this school's budget?'_ He wondered.

" _Ah! Kaminari-san!"_

Denki turned to Midoriya, who was grinning sheepishly at him.

"I feel bad," the boy explained, "I haven't really been talking to you and you went-" He paused. "Is something wrong?"

Denki could only stare, metaphorical jaw wide open. ' _H-How could I have not realized!'_ His eyes travelled down the boy's costume. ' _The colour, the shape, it's almost the_ _ **same**_ _.'_

"Eh? Kaminari-san? Is there something weird about my costume?" Midoriya sounded genuinely worried, Denki almost felt bad. Almost.

He made a point to look away from the boy. Clearing his throat, he asked, "is that...a green spandex?"

Midoriya looked startled, stuttering out a, "I-I mean, I guess? I think it's more like a jumpsuit?"

Denki clasped a hand on the boy's shoulder. He looked him straight in the eye. "It's forgivable, as long as you never say 'youth' in a loud or annoying manner."

Poor Midoriya looked lost. "S-Sure."

Kaminari smiled, patting the boy condescendingly on the head. "Good boy."

" _Ah._ " Midoriya smiled awkwardly once he let go, "you know-"

"Class," their attention snapped to All Might. The man cleared his throat. "Today you all will be taking part in a race as groups, the one who 'saves' me first wins!" A screen with a list of names popped up. "First group, up!"

The class chattered excitedly as Denki, Midoriya, tape-boy, Iida, and acid-girl rushed to the starting line.

" _Ok, ready, start!"_

As expected, Midoriya surged ahead. ' _He really has improved,'_ Denki noted, as he himself simply kept between Iida and acid girl, ' _people generally only show this much advancement if they just got their Quirk, though,'_ he eyed the way All Might shot MIdoriya a thumbs up at the finish line, ' _that just might be the case.'_

Midoriya didn't try talking to him for the rest of the class, which made Denki sigh in relief. ' _So I scared him off, good, a boy like him is far too curious and clever.'_

"HEY GUYS IT'S LUNCH TIME!"

Denki smiled slightly as the class dispersed, chattering excitedly.

' _They're good kids.'_

* * *

" _PRINCIPAL!"_

The door to Nedzu office burst open, the rodent frowned at the heaving woman. "Saika?" He asked the tech-expert, leaning over his desk, "what's wrong?"

"T-The security camera," she huffed, "in Block E, Room 8, it's been hacked!"

Nedzu snapped the pencil in his paw. ' _That's the room Toshinori is talking to Midoriya in.'_

* * *

" _One for All is a power inherited to defeat All for One, so to speak."_

Denki frowned as he paused the footage on his phone, studying Midoriya and the supposed 'Symbol of Peace'. ' _So I was right,'_ he stared at the skeleton man, ' _Midoriya has All Might's power, which, for some reason, has a heavy backstory. All Might himself is nothing but a figurehead at the moment.'_  He groaned. ' _How troublesome, I'll have to get Kaede to look into this again.'_

"NII-SAN! DINNER'S READY!" He smiled at Eri's call, scrambling out of his bed.

"Coming."

 


	22. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rufyghjvbmn

* * *

 

"Biju, Biju, Biju," Phoenix grinned, tongue flicking out to caress his lips as the man strutted around the streets of Garakuto. "Where are you?" He called, grin hardening and eyes rolling to the back of his head, "where.  **ARE.** _You?"_

Only the slight murmur of a breeze answered him, and Phoenix could feel irritation balloon inside him, popping in rage as he came to the centre of the city without his target in sight. Phoenix held out his hand, flames already licking his fingertips, and hurled it into the ground in front of him. The pavement let out a satisfying crack, opening up fissures in the roads and splintering towards the houses that stood naively by their side. The flames followed soon after, chasing the screaming survivors of the ground's convulsion.

Fire converged behind Phoenix in wings as he rose above the created chaos. Fingers were pointed at him, partnered alongside fearful and angry glances. Phoenix only sneered, he held no pity for the people of Garakuto, they were just poor, miserable, souls living in a crime-drunken neighbourhood. Their situation was already doomed from their own weakness and Pro-Heroes negligence. He was really just taking advantage of an already terrible situation.

Sand emerged in bursts around the city, dousing the flames through sheer number. Parts of the sand assembled into spikes and stabbed at one of the city's water tanks, other chunks converged into hands, picking up the water tank and pouring the water into the cracks.

Phoenix smirked at the scene. It was smart, the city's mysterious benefactor was using the water and sand to create mud to fill the cracks he made. Phoenix licked his lips, "what a clever little helper this city has," he sang, a grin stretching further as he spotted a figure emerging into the sky.

It was a young man with dust coloured hair and an angry scowl stuck firmly to his face. Shadowed eyes spotted with golden pupils narrowed at him, as sand lifted the man closer towards Phoenix. The white glare of the moon reflected on his bare chest, bringing to light baggy red pants and raven strands of hair. A single brown and black tail lolled to the side, paired alongside faded golden, cat-like, ears.

"So," an ugly grin spread across the man's face, ruining his otherwise quite handsome appearance, "you must be the Phoenix, huh." The man sneered at Phoenix, fingers outstretched in front of his face. The man's gravelly voice cackled at him as sand began to amass at Phoenix's sides, "you're going to  _fucking_ DIE!"

The man tucked his fingers into a fist, as he did, the sand tore towards Phoenix. He tsked in response, darting towards the side, only for the sand to follow. Phoenix gritted his teeth as the sand closed in on him, swarming around his legs and crawling its way up to his body 'till only his head showed.

"Oi," the man stood on a platform of sand right in front of him, fingers still in loosely clasped in a fist. He grinned. "What were you thinking, going and tryin' cause trouble in  _my_ territory." The man slowly tightened his fist, as he did, the sand clustered around Phoenix squeezed harder.

Phoenix gave the man a strained grin as the sand began to crush him. "S-So...this...i-is...the power...of Biju," he choked out, grin bloody but prominent on his face, "you …m-must …be …Shukaku ...the ...one ...tailed ...beast."

The man's, Shukaku's, eyes widened, and the sand around Phoenix dispersed. Shukaku grabbed him by the collar. " _How the fuck do you know that?"_ He demanded, sand gripping around Phoenix's hands and feet like a cuff.

Phoenix only grinned, blood dribbling from his mouth as he did. "I heard there was a powerful vigilante hovering around Garakuto, though," his tongue darted out to scoop the blood off his lips, "I must say, you're not as strong as I thought you were. The fact that you're human is even more surprising,"

Shukaku's grip on his collar tightened while the other hand clasped onto his hair and  _pulled._  " _Who's feeding you this crap you're spouting?"_

Phoenix smirked, "don't let others take credit for my work, it's all mine." Just as the sand began to dive towards him, he burst into bits of flame.

The last thing Phoenix saw before he teleported were bullets of wind aimed straight at his head.

* * *

All For One tsked at Phoenix as he coughed blood onto the floor in front of him. "I didn't revive you so you could get yourself killed so recklessly," All For One clicked his tongue disapprovingly, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair as he did. "So, what did you find?"

Phoenix laughed, hacking up blood as he did, before motioning to his almost shrivelled arms. "I got  _crushed_ , get it? Hah hah, hah- _cough-"_ more blood spurted onto the ground.

All For One sighed at the pathetic sight in front of him. Phoenix, one of the greatest villains of all time, had been reduced to an almost crippled man in a matter of minutes. Long red hair had been torn to chunks, once muscular limbs had been compressed into half their size. Even that tatty outfit of a hoodie and jeans had not been spared, the man standing before him was almost naked. All For One sighed, hand coming to rub against his veiny temple. ' _These Biju...they're no ordinary vigilantes, Tomura will have no hope against them. At this rate, perhaps only Phoenix and I will have a chance against them, should I give Phoenix his full power, however...'_ "Phoenix," he glared at the hacking man, "do you have any information on that beast's weakness.

Phoenix grinned at him, head nodding towards his limp arms and legs, "heal me first."

All For One scowled, hand banging on a button on his throne-like chair. "Get me Caduceus," he ordered into the mic. Only a couple seconds later, a hooded figure entered the chamber. He sneered at her. "Girl, heal him."

She nodded, glancing down as she did. Two pale hands stretched out of the cloak, a knife gripped in one. She slashed the blade across her arm to form a deep gash, holding out the dripping blood towards Phoenix's mouth. He grinned, lapping it up in relish, as he did a blue glow enveloped the man, pulsing in vibrant shades as Phoenix's skin slowly began to smoothen, and his muscles return to their former glory.

All For One frowned. "Faster, girl."

She nodded again, other hand coming to slash the already wounded hand with the knife again. The blue glow doubled in pulse, and Phoenix was healed in a matter of seconds.

The man pouted at All For One once she left. "That was mean, I think her bone was showing from that wound, it could have killed her, you know? You're so nice to your other minions, why so mean to her?"

All For One scowled at Phoenix. "The moment I show her a bit of leniency, she's going to flee. Best keep the fear alive."

Phoenix tilted his head curiously. "Why can't you just drive her insane or something? Force some Stockholm Syndrome?"

All For One tsked. "I tried to get Tomura to build a connection with her. Instead of her growing attached to him, he grew attached her. She's got a bit of a will inside her, not one to be manipulated easily."

Phoenix hummed, laying on the floor with a hand in the air. "Why put her in such close proximity with heroes, then?"

All For One smirked. "She won't betray us, she's got too much self-preservation too, if anything, this will drive a wall between her and heroes. Caduceus is in close proximity with the heroes who failed to save her, watching others live lives that she can never have. Putting her so close to something she can never have should drive much hate from her part, especially once she's revealed to the more corrupt side of heroes. If all goes well, she should align herself with us out of her own will."

Phoenix laughed. "Quite the mastermind, aren't you?"

All For One tsked. "Do not think you can avert the topic so much. What are the Biju's weaknesses?"

Phoenix pouted. "Fine, if you're so insistent," he sighed, clenching and unclenching his hands, "a weakness, I suppose, would be that they are not at their full strength. The nine monsters I saw back then ...were not human."

All For One frowned. "Are you sure they are the same ones then? Perhaps it  _is_ just a coincidence?"

Phoenix grinned. "No, it's not. The moment I mentioned that thing's name, it became furious. Demanded how I knew."

All For One hummed. "We are dealing with things outside our world, then."

Phoenix smirked at him. "We are indeed," he paused, as if remembering something, "didn't you say there was a boy with ties to the group?"

All For One frowned. "Oh, him? He doesn't appear to be anything special, just some street rat. The boy's strong, but I suspect it's because those beasts taught him a thing or two, probably took pity or something."

Phoenix hummed thoughtfully. "I see, I see," he grinned, "I'd like to meet him, though."

All For One scoffed. "Do what you wish, begone." The Phoenix grinned at him, licking his lips, before getting up and leaving. All For One sighed as the door clicked shut. He banged a fist against the armrest. " _ **Damn ...Bird ...not ...telling …me ...crap.**_ " He clenched his teeth, remembering what the man had told him after their fight.

" _...you ...fuckin ...piece...of ..._ _ **shit**_ _!" Phoenix scowled at him, voice grating throughout the ruins. Blood was splattered across the man, blending with his fiery red hair. Across his cheek lay a deep gash, one of the many that were scattered across his body. Fire flickered weakly behind Phoenix, showing as much strength he did._

_All For One stared at the man emotionlessly, holding out a leg in each hand and waving the stumps at the man mockingly. "You miss them already?"_

_Veins bulged against Phoenix's forehead as he clawed through the rubble with his bare hands, dragging his torso towards All For One. He collapsed before his feet, and All For One placed a foot on Phoenix's head, pushing it into the ground. "What are you going to do now, Phoenix?" He said mockingly. "Your empire is gone, and you yourself are useless. You spoke so highly of your power but you have become nothing under me, just a pebble under my foot. Yet," his voice turned cold, "no matter what, your conscious will live. I can decapitate your head but I can never cut it in half, so, tell me, what are you going to do? Wallow for infinity?" All For One let out a slight chortle at that._

" _...ha…..ha...hahahahaha_ _ **haha**_ _!" All For One frowned as Phoenix cackled madly. "You," Phoenix croaked out, "you...think you're so …_ _ **strong**_ _...you have not seen ...what I have seen ...a war ...a world ...with more power than you can imagine ...the weakest soldier over there ...would_ _ **crush**_   _you ...monsters ...tailed …beast ...with power far greater ...than the human population combined … a fox ...octopus ...rhinoceros beetle ...slug ...horse ...monkey ...turtle ...cat ...raccoon ...just one ...would destroy humankind ...don't ...be so_ _ **cocky**_   _...when ….you ..._ _ **are nothing**_ _...you ...don't_ _ **deserve**_ _..._ _ **anything**_ _."_

_All For One pushed on Phoenix's head. "And where exactly did you find such a world?"_

_Phoenix huffed. "...teleportation ...biju ...shinob-"_

_All For One frowned, lifting his foot off the man's head. "Oh? He choked."_

All For One clenched a fist. Back then, he had thought nothing of it, simply dismissing the rambling as an insane man's last words. But when Tomura had mentioned a vigilante group called the Biju, and when he found out about the similarities between the Quirks and what Phoenix mentioned...well, it could never hurt to be too cautious. Phoenix was more knowledgeable about the subject than he was and only had half his power, should the man act astray, All For One could always put him down

The only problem was Phoenix's own obsession with the creatures. All For One had long since come to the conclusion that Phoenix's desire for power had stemmed from his 'trip' to this 'alternative reality'. Should he give Phoenix the freedom too, there was no small chance that the Phoenix may partner up with the vigilante group. Right now the man seemed more concerned on finding information on the creatures, how long that would last All For One wasn't sure. Though Phoenix's personal animosity with All For One had appeared to have died down over the last couple decades, All For One knew the man would never choose him over everything else.

He sighed. ' _That man is bringing in more trouble than he's worth.'_

* * *

" **DAMN IT!** " Shukaku hurled his fist onto the wall.

Kurama sighed as the wall collapsed. "Honestly," he said, getting up from the couch and walking towards the raccoon, "what's with you?"

"That stupid Phoenix," Shukaku growled, clenching his fist, "he wrecked my city and he  _knew!"_

Matatani frowned from the corner she was curled up in. "Knew what?"

"He knew about us, not just as the Biju, " Shukaku scowled, glancing at his tail, "but as tailed beasts."

* * *

"The final exams are coming up," Aizawa drawled, looking half-asleep on his desk, "so I hope you guys are all studying properly. Train both your body and mind." He yawned and collapsed on to his sleeping bag.

Denki sighed in boredom. ' _Whatever, I'll just wing it,'_ he leaned back in his chair, ' _I'll probably still get a good grade.'_

Acid girl practically leapt out of her seat. "EHHH!" She wailed, "but with all the stuff going on I haven't had time to study  _at all_."

Iida made a confused noise. "You did not study?"

She looked at him accusingly. "You  _did?"_

Denki sighed, tuning out the rest of the chatter. ' _Kaede was saying, yesterday, that All Might used it to only ever sighted for around three hours,'_ he mused, fiddling with a pen in his hand, ' _though even that has decreased since taking up a teaching position here. So the time limit has to be something around that. It seems to be getting shorter and shorter, perhaps that's what happens when you pass on a Quirk. Midoriya seems to be getting a better grip on One For All, though, so that's good, I guess.'_ He sighed, ' _when this gets out about All Might there's going to be chaos.'_

'AH, KAMINARI!"

Denki glanced at acid girl, who was pointing at him excitedly. "What place did you get in the midterms?"

Denki shrugged, turning away from the girl and ignoring her whines.

"He came first."

Denki sighed, peering over at the door. Shinsou was smirking at him.

"NO WAY! WHY IS EVERYONE SO  _SMART?"_ Came acid girl's wails of despair. Midoriya, meanwhile, was looking at him in...adoration?

"Wow," he praised, eyes sparkling, "Kaminari-san is really smart!"

Bakugou tsked, turning away from them. "Of-fucking-course."

Denki groaned, getting up from his desk and shuffling towards Shinsou. "Did you have too?" He complained as they walked to the cafeteria

Shinsou grinned. "Of course I did."

* * *

"Oi, Stain," Tomura motioned for the scarf-wearing vigilante to sit next to him on the bar. The man tsked but complied. Tomura scratched his arm fervently, peering at Stain oddly. "Sensei told me to tell you to kill a hero."

Stain frowned. "...why?"

Tomura shrugged. "I don't know, I don't care, just do it," he paused, "but tell us your target before you kill them."

Stain sighed, clenching a fist. "Fine," he relented, getting up and stalking out of the bar.

Tomura turned to Kurogiri. "Make sure you tail him after he tells us, okay?"

Kurogiri nodded. "Of course."

* * *

" _I'm supposed to kill a hero."_

Denki frowned, pacing around his and Eri's room, phone clenched near his ear. "When?" He asked.

He could imagine Chizome scowling as he said, " _they didn't specify, only told me to tell them beforehand."_

Denki gritted his teeth. ' _Why?'_ He wondered, ' _the League needs whatever Stain does to go public and be associated with them, so how are they going to do that if Chizome just kills some random hero? They didn't even ask him to kill a popular one.'_

" _Oi, kid, "_ came Stain's voice, " _what do you want me to do?"_

Denki sighed, rubbing his head and walking towards his desk. He rummaged through the various bits of newspaper laying there, grabbing the one he was looking for and snapping a picture of it. Denki sent the image to Chizome. "Look," he said, eyeing the newspaper article coldly, "this is the  _Paper Hero: Mache Man_ , he's based in Hosu," Denki's voice turned cold, "this particular hero is quite...famous, with criminals. For his tendency to pay or trick into villains creating problems for him to solve. Many civilians have been injured, or even died in these scenarios."

A snarl. " _I'll kill him."_

Denki smiled callously. "I hoped you'd say that." He snapped the phone shut, glancing back at the article. Denki smoothened the crinkled paper.

**Mache Man Saves Us From The Skeletons!**

_[A picture of a short, sturdy man, waving at the camera and smiling. He wore white jumpsuit with a paper cape floating behind him. White hair lay flat on his head and milky dots covered his chin like stubble. There was not a scratch on the hero. Behind him were piles of rubble, sitting across the side were an elderly couple, both bleeding and crying. In front of the hero lay a man, made of bones, who was tied up and on the floor. He looked pitiful.]_

_Pro-Hero Mache Man has solved the fifth incident in Hosu this week! This time the battle took place in...three civilians injured but no permanent damage...a shop had been destroyed..._

Veins bulged in Denki's forehead as he scanned over the article, screwing it up and hurling into the wall. He gritted his teeth, ' _that man deserves to die.'_

"Nii-san?"

Denki glanced towards the now open door, standing up as he did. "Eri-chan," he smiled, "what's up?"

She frowned, bounding into the room. Eri narrowed her eyes at him, "what was that noise?"

"Ah," Denki laughed awkwardly, "I knocked over something, by accident."

Eri kept frowning, walking over to the edge of the bed. She grabbed the screwed up newspaper, unfurling it. Eri squinted at it, "this is a hero, right? Why'd you throw it away?"

Denki smiled. "Had a bit too much paper," he said, tugging at Eri's arm, "come on, let's go get some dinner."

She grinned, following along, "Aizawa-san said he got me candy apples!"

"Make sure you don't eat them first, it'll spoil your appetite."

* * *

 


	23. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gfvscx

Chizome scowled as he prowled through the alleyways of Hosu. Bitterness bubbled through his veins and protruded on his forehead. ' _Where is_ _ **he**_ _?"_ Chizome thought in irritation, scrunching a newspaper article in his left hand. Only the chime of a night breeze answered his queries, and Chizome merely grimaced, vaulting onto a nearby rooftop and scanning the area around him. ' _Tanaka Saito,'_ he thought, ' _otherwise known as Mache Man, he's supposed to be patrolling now, unless...'_  Chizome scowled. The vigilante leapt off the rooftop and onto another and another, until he found the place he was looking for.

A rickety old bar stood feebly in front of Chizome. ' _ **GASTEN 2.6**_ _,'_ a sign in front read. The building looked practically deserted, only a slight flicker of light betrayed any inhabitants. He frowned, eyes sweeping the area around him before untying his mask and shoving away his signature red scarf. Chizome stuffed the two objects into a bag he had stolen, slamming the door open as he did.

An ailing old lady greeted him, gnarly lips stretching into a toothless grin. "W-Welcome," she stuttered, hobbling towards him. "H-How can I h-help you?"

Chizome ignored her, instead, surveying the inside of the bar. It was nothing special: crumbling tables, three-legged chairs, and cloudy alcohol. Of course, that wasn't what he was here for. "Oi," he turned to the old lady, glaring at her, " _to fight fire with fire is the only way not to come close, but no cigar."_

The woman frowned, straightening from her previous hunched position. "Wrong," she whispered. Bottles of alcohol shattered, the liquid inside coming to circle the old lady like a shield. "Why are you here?" The woman demanded, her stutter now absent. "And why should I let you in?"

Chizome scowled. ' _I can't believe they changed it.'_  He sighed, pulling out his mask and tying it around his head.

The woman gasped, and the alcohol surrounding her dropped. "H-Hero Killer Stain!" She collapsed to the floor, head bowed. "H-How can I help you?"

Chizome tsked, ripping the mask back off. "This is a villains meet-up area, right?"

She nodded fervently, sitting up from her crouched position. "It is, it is, this is one of the entries to  _Gastons_ ," she paused, "do you...wish to enter?"

Chizome glared at her menacingly, kneeling to her level, "you got a problem with that, old hag?"

The woman shook her head vigorously. "N-No!" She protested, "it would be an honour for our bar to host such a reputable villain, it's just that…" ' _why does an A-Rank villain like you want to come_ _ **here**_ _?'_

Chizome sneered. "Just take me there." The old lady nodded fearfully, ushering him through a door behind the counter. He sighed, ' _and to think I used to be wary of this place when I started as a vigilante.'_ His eyes roamed over the crumbling staircase he was being led through. ' _This place is much shabbier then I remember.'_

The click of an open door brought Chizome's attention back.

"Welcome to  _Gastons."_ The woman gave him a grotesque smile, "enjoy."

A scene of chaos greeted the villain. Liquor bottles soared through the air, shattering at every odd second. The sound of threats and screams deafened the room as burly men wrestled each other into worn down tables and chairs. Beyond the turmoil, however, laid an area of peace: furbished tables, chairs with more than three legs, and bottles that were not airborne. Over there, the  _villains_ , not the thugs, conferred.

Chizome scowled, pushing past the hag and making his way down to the 'peaceful' area. ' _This place has changed,'_ he realised, ' _before, it was just a warzone, now there's a system in place. I wonder,'_  he licked his lips, ' _is it because of him?'_ Chizome eyed one of the men laughing at a table. Shaded eyes glanced at him and a twisted grin spawned on the man's mouth. The villain gave Chizome a wave, his other hand coming to light his cigarette. Chizome frowned, ' _the League of Villain's information broker, Giran,'_ he narrowed his eyes, ' _what's someone like him doing here?'_

"Oh, come  _on_! I'm supposed to be on patrol right now! Make up your mind already, do you want the cash or not?"

Chizome let his eyes roam over to the source of the commotion. A familiar white-haired man was sneering at what looked like a middle school boy covered head to toe in bandages.

' _Found you.'_

"B-But," the boy stuttered, hands coming to cover his sickly green face, "I-I d-don't want to go to j-jail."

The Paper Hero scoffed. "Jail?" He clasped the boy's scalp menacingly, "at worst you'll be sentenced to a year of juvie, and even then you already have a couple of theft charges on your belt anyway. Attempted assault won't ruin your record  _that_  much, besides," he grinned, "you're a kid, I'll go easy on you, even if you do have a villain's Quirk, you know, sweating poison and all that."

"I-I-"

"Oi." Chizome placed himself between the kid and the hero. "I have some business I'd like to discuss with you."

The hero smirked. "Oh yeah? Who are you? A villain? Do you wanna do some business on the rowdy side?"

Chizome gave him an ugly smile. "Let's take it outside, if you're lucky the media might catch us."

* * *

"He's at the bar?"

"Yes, I saw him there as well as Giran."

"Giran? That bastard's there as well?"

"Yes, that is his favourite place to recruit."

" _Tsk._  Whatever, make sure you tail him."

"Of course."

* * *

" _Paper Technique #1: Birds of_ _ **doom**_ _!"_

Chizome tsked, dodging the paper birds with ease. He leapt onto a railing near the hero and then towards the man himself. Chizome grinned as he felt his blade make contact. He let droplets of blood spilled from his sword to his mouth.

The Paper Hero froze, his arms and feet rooted in a crouched position.

Chizome smirked, sauntering up to the man and pressing his blade on the hero's throat. He bent down to the man's shoulder. "A hero who pays for crimes to solve," the villain whispered, "you really are  _despicable,_ aren't you?" His blade pressed deeper into the man's throat as Chizome let his back uncurl, "my name is Hero Killer Stain," the mans' eyes almost widened, "and I deem you not  _worthy_ to be called a hero!" With that resounding statement, he sliced the man's head clean off. A severed skull soared to the side of the street and the beheaded body sunk to the floor.

Chizome yawned, arms stretching to the side as he stepped over the hero's body. ' _I suppose I should report to the League now.'_

* * *

Kurogiri slammed the bar door open, holding up a camera. "I have the footage."

Tomura grinned, jumping off his stool to grab the camera. He examined the device carefully. "So this is going to bring me more minions."

Kurogiri nodded, bringing out a laptop from behind the counter. "In theory, yes. But," he motioned for the device, which Tomura handed over, "only if executed correctly."

Tomura smiled, sitting on the stool once more. "Sensei really is clever."

* * *

"Akari-san, Akari-san, how are you preparing for the exams?"

Akari frowned, sitting on a park bench, looking thoughtful. "I mean, I'm studying, I guess?"

Eri grinned, leaning forward on her seat next to the older girl. "Really?" She said, swinging her legs back and forth, "Nii-san hasn't studied at  _all_."

Akari slumped on the bench and pouted. "He doesn't study and he  _still_  gets first?"

Eri giggled. "That's Nii-san for you, Aizawa-san has been throwing books at his head all  _week_ but he never reads them."

Akari tilted her head to the side. "Aizawa-san? You live with Sensei?"

Eri nodded. "Yup!" She exclaimed, smiling, "both me and Nii-san do."

Akari smiled sadly at Eri and cleared her throat, " _anyway,_  where is your Nii-san? From how he acts I thought he would never let you go outside of UA by yourself."

Eri grinned, "He wouldn't, that's why he came with me!" She pointed to a masked figure in the distance. "That's him there!"

Akari laughed awkwardly, fidgeting slightly as the boy came closer. "H-Hey Kaminari-san," she greeted.

The boy only gave her a closed-eye-smile, wordlessly offering Eri a candy apple, which the girl took with great relish.

"Thank you!"

He smiled at Eri, patting her head before sitting on the opposite side of the little girl. As Eri ate her treat, he brought out a garish orange book to read, the boy made no initiative to start a conversation.

Akari could only abashedly look away. ' _Of course, he came,'_  she inwardly lamented, ' _of_ _ **course.**_ ' Akari sighed, bringing out her phone so she could pretend to be busy. ' _Kaminari Denki,'_  she mused silently, ' _UA's mystery boy, the one Phoenix is so interested in,_ ' her mind flashed back to the incident with the Nomu and grimaced. ' _Theoretically speaking, it wouldn't be impossible for Kaminari to create lightning indirectly with his Quirk,'_ she narrowed her eyes, ' _if he did, and he lied to the authorities about it, that really proves him as dangerous.'_ Akari smirked, ' _not that Tomura needs to know that.'_

"So, Nii-san, how are  _you_  preparing for the exams?"

Akari glanced over at the pair in interest, tucking away her phone.

Kaminari sheepishly looked away from Eri. "I've been, er,  _reading."_

Eri glared at the boy. " _Really?"_

Kaminari nodded hesitantly. "Ahhh...yup, definitely, totally. Very informative things."

Eri gave up her glare with a loud  _hmph_. "You know," she said proudly, "Aizawa-san said he was going to give  _me_ an Exam." She stood up on the bench, hands on hips, "so, I'm a big kid  _too_!"

Akari laughed. "You're a very big kid, Eri-chan, but," she pinched the girl's cheek, "have  _you_ been preparing for  _your_ exam?"

Eri flushed, swatting away the older girl's hand. "W-Well, my exam is not as important as yours so I don't really have to-"

"But Eri-chan," Kaminari pouted, putting away his book, " _everyone_  needs to study."

"I-I-"

"You  _do_ want to get a good score, right?" Akari chimed in.

"W-Well," Eri stuttered, climbing off the bench, "I-I think I'm urgently needed at the swings, so I'm afraid we will have to continue this conversation some other time." The girl clumsily tottered away, her ears still beet red.

Akari and Kaminari laughed.

"T-That was adorable!" Akari guffawed, hand coming to cover her mouth.

"It was," Kaminari snickered, "that excuse was totally inspired by me. I feel so honoured."

Akari snorted. "Your legacy shall live on."

Kaminari nodded solemnly. "It shall."

They burst out into laughter again.

Akari sighed, glancing over to where Eri was playing. "You're really attached to her, aren't you?"

Kaminari hummed. "I guess you could say I am," he looked over at her, "you are too."

She smiled slightly, "not like you, though."

"Perhaps," he said as he stood up, "but I wonder, between yourself and her, who would you choose?"

Akari laughed, clenching her fist as she stood as well. "Who knows," she said, smiling over gritted teeth, "but why ask?"

Kaminari hummed, already walking towards Eri. "Because you'll probably have to make that choice soon."

Dread clawed its way into Akari's stomach as she stared at Kaminari's disappearing back.

' _What.'_

* * *

Eri tugged at Denki's sleeve as they walked to Aizawa's apartment. "Akari-san looked really pale when we left. Did you say something mean to her?"

Denki shrugged, opening the apartment door. "Not really, maybe she was cold or something?"

Eri frowned, following along behind him. "Are you sure-"

" _Kaminari_ _ **!**_   _Eri_ _ **!**_   _There you are_ _ **!**_ "

Aizawa gave an uncharacteristic sigh of relief, ushering them in inside. As both Denk and Eri sat themselves down opppisite him, he explained.

"A video?" Denki looked at the phone Aizawa handed him in confusion, "what?"

Aizawa sighed. "Just watch it," he glanced over at Eri and motioned for her to sit beside him, "you don't need too, it's a bit ...violent."

Denki frowned as Eri tottered over to Aizawa, before pressing play.

The video started with an unclear birds-eye view of two men, one with white hair and a white cape, and the other with messy black hair and no nose.

' _Mache Man and Stain,'_ Denki realised, glancing up at Aizawa. The man looked down, visibly clenching a fist.

The video went on, Mache Man was frozen in place and Stain was sauntering towards him. The camera gave a close up on the pair as Stain appeared to talk to the could faintly hear his words. " _A hero who pays for crimes to solve,"_ he whispered, " _you really are despicable, aren't you?"_  Stain straightened slightly, " _my name is Hero Killer Stain,"_ the mans' eyes almost widened, " _and I deem you not worthy to be called a hero!"_ Stain sliced the hero's head off. The video ended.

"That video was posted online, alongside various other video evidence and subject testimonies that the Paper Hero, Mache Man, did pay villains to cause crimes. The police have confirmed it." Aizawa sighed, rubbing his temple, "public opinion in the Hero Killer has gone up, while public faith in heroes has gone down." He glanced over at Denki, who had gone completely still. "Kid?"

Denki shook his head. ' _Damn it, I never considered this.'_ "Why are you telling me this?"

Aizawa exhaled, glancing up. "Neither of you guys have been particularly trusting of heroes, so I guess I wanted to show you this on our terms rather than theirs," he looked Denki in the eye, "what that 'hero' did was wrong in the wrongest sense, but I want the both of you to know that the majority of heroes are  _not_  like this, and while Stain's actions were somewhat justified, that does not make him a good person."

Eri frowned. "But didn't he get rid of the bad guy?"

Denki smiled bitterly. "He's also hurt a lot of good guys."

Eri made an 'O' sound and just snuggled next to Aizawa, who just sighed.

"Eri," he said, nudging her softly, "can you go to your room for a second, I need to talk with your brother."

She pouted but complied, getting up and trudging towards her room.

Denki raised an eyebrow, leaning closer. "What do you need to talk about?"

Aizawa sighed, inclining back on his seat. "You said, once, that you used to live in Garakuto and had an apartment there."

Denki nodded slowly. ' _He's talking about the attack.'_ "I don't have the apartment anymore."

"Did you…" Aizawa winced, "have any friends there?"

Denki shook his head. "No."

Aizawa sighed in relief. "Well, the city was attacked by a villain on a massive scale a couple nights ago, no lives were lost thanks to the intervention of a vigilante." He grimaced, "I know you do many things behind my back, but please, for now, don't go there."

Denki gave Aizawa a bitter smile. "How well are the Pros being received there?"

He winced. "Very poorly."

Denki grimaced. "I thought so," he thumbed the phone in his hand, "how come this isn't big on the media?"

Aizawa sighed. "Garakuto has always been a bit...closed off from the other cities, by the time the issue got any major attention everyone had already focused on the Hero Killer."

Denki frowned. "The locals must be pissed."

Aizawa groaned. "Well, the heroes didn't get a warm welcome, that's for sure."

Denki sighed, covering his face with his hands. "Everything has gotten so much worse in a matter of days."

Aizawa sighed as well. "It has."

* * *

"Did you see the video?"

Kurama grumbled over the phone. " _Of course I did."_

Denki frowned, spinning himself on his study desk chair. "And?" He asked.

" _It was smart,"_  the fox grudgingly admitted, " _and something you wouldn't have considered. This is the first time I've heard of the word 'viral'."_

Denki sighed, stopping himself at the desk. "It was smart, yes, but bad for us. The League of Villains probably has a bunch of interested members-to-be by now."

He could imagine Kurama shrugging. " _Nothing we can do about it now, I'd be more worried about the whole Garakuto incident."_

Denki frowned, thumbing through various newspaper articles. "Yes, I heard about that," he eyed a 'current' picture of the city, "the mysterious vigilante, it was Shukaku, right? Going by all that sand?"

" _Yes,"_  he could hear a frown in the fox's voice, " _the villain in question was Phoenix, and it appeared he targeted the city because of repeated Shukaku's presence there,"_ Kurama paused, " _the villain was ...familiar with Shukaku, as a Biju."_

Denki's eyes widened. "You don't think…?"

" _No,"_  Kurama said adamantly, " _the only thing powerful enough to cross from our dimension to this one should be the chakra of the Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya, or the Biju's chakra combined. The Sage of Six Paths is dead, he may have crossed into this dimension, he may have not, but that would have been centuries ago. The same with Kaguya. Should someone have crossed with our chakra we would have sensed it, as we did with you."_

Denki frowned. "But what about Quirks? Would the right one have the power to cross over from this dimension to ours? If only for a short while?"

Kurama hummed contemplatively. " _Perhaps, should the person get their hands on some sort of seal that could direct them, it could be possible. Quirks, so far, haven't displayed a visible limit."_

Denki narrowed his eyes. "Seals, huh, but where would someone get their hands on that? Unless the Sage or Kaguya brought them here…?"

He could picture Kurama grimacing. " _Perhaps_."

Denki sighed. "How are Shukaku's chakra levels?"

" _Low, I suspect he will be…"_

"The first to go?"

" _...yes."_

* * *

' _ **AKARI8758 WINS!**_ '

"DAMN IT!" Tomura threw his controller at the wall, pointing a finger accusingly at Akari. "YOU CHEATED!"

Akari smirked, sinking all too smugly into one of Tomura's beanbags. She, very maturely, stuck her tongue at the villain. "Los~er." She sang.

Tomura scowled at her, grabbing another one his spare controllers. "I  _refuse_ to lose to a noob like you at  _Mario Kart!"_

Akari pouted at him. "Mario Kart is  _iconic._ "

Tomura scowled harder as he started a new game. "That's because it's the only game you know,  _noob_."

" _Alas,"_ She held a hand to her forehead in mock hurt, "I've been demoted from 'side-character' to 'noob', why is thy world so  _cruel."_

"Pretty sure you said that wrong."

"Shut up."

" _Eh-hem."_

The pair turned to the door, where Kurogiri was standing. He nodded at Tomura. "Sensei wishes to talk with you, about our recruits it seems."

Tomura frowned, making his way to and through the door. Kurogiri turned his eyes back to Akari, who had stood up and moved to the side. He raised an eyebrow. "I hope you have better things to do than distract Tomura."

Akari nodded silently, walking towards the door. As she did, Kurogiri bent down, whispering into her ear. " _Should Tomura's attachment to you be too bothersome, Sensei has no qualms eliminating you."_

Akari flinched, before scampering off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I'm thinking of changing the rating from Teenager to Mature. There's a lot more violence then I thought there would be, but it's all pretty canon typical for Naruto at least. Let me know what you think. Aside from that, I'm starting a new story called When Explosions meet Kunai in which Katsuki get's put in the Naruto world. Check it out if you're interested, depending on how well that goes and how keen I am on it, the updates for this story might slow down a bit.


	24. Chapter 20

 

* * *

" _Eh-hem,"_ Principal Nezu cleared his throat, letting the UA staff's murmurs drift into silence. "So, the First Term Finals for the first years are coming up next week, and while the written aspect has already been sorted, the hero students' practical is still at a planning phase. Have the homeroom teachers decided on the pairs?"

Eraserhead sighed, sinking further into his chair. "About that," he mumbled, "thanks to the temporary addition of Kaminari, there's an odd number of students in my class. I can't pair them up evenly."

Nezu smiled at the Erasure Hero. "Yes, I had realised that. Since Kaminari wishes to be a trial student, I felt it reasonable to give him a slightly different exam." The Principal smirked, "Kaminari may face me as a one-man team."

All Might frowned, raising a hand. "Isn't that unfair to him? You already gave him a hard time at the Entrance Exams, why do the same now?"

Nezu sighed, taking a sip of tea. "UA prides itself in giving full flexibility to its teachers to allow them to tap into their student's full potential. I would not have Kaminari partake in a battle I know he is not capable of handling. Kaminari, as you must have noticed, is extremely gifted in both physical capability and strategy. However, he does not like to outwardly show this, prompting him to perform mediocrely in many trials."

Midnight scoffed. "Mediocre? He was at the top of the Gen-Ed class."

Nezu frowned. "And I suspect he can do better, from what Eraserhead has told me the boy doesn't appear to study at all. By putting him against me I feel we have a good chance at forcing him to use more of his strength."

Midnight leaned back in her chair, looking thoughtful. "But why hold back?"

Eraserhead grimaced, engulfing his mouth with his scarf. "Kaminari doesn't want to be a hero."

A fist banged onto the table, and Present Mic scowled at Nazu. "If he doesn't want to be a hero then why are you forcing him? Hero business isn't something you can mess around with!"

The Principal only glanced at the Voice Hero coldly. "Did you not see the damage Kaminari did to that Nomu? He's strong, and will likely grow stronger than most of us. Do you think someone with that kind of power will simply stand around when things go wrong? No, he'll interfere and get himself labelled as a vigilante. Kaminari has morals, good ones, that I am sure, but whether those morals line up with the law, I don't know."

Cemontoss frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Nezu sighed. "The attack inflicted on the Nomu was, as reported by bystanders, done with a clear intention to kill," he took another sip of tea, "if Kaminari does not become a hero, he will become a vigilante or villain, intentionally or accidentally, but from what I can gather conflict is certain in his future."

Silence elapsed the staffroom for a couple seconds before Vlad King spoke up.

"I know you're a genius, Principal," he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "but don't you think you're being a bit too ...hasty, with this assumption. To say someone will become a vigilante or villain is quite the leap - especially if said person is only fifteen."

Nezu hummed. "Perhaps I may be wrong, my intelligence is not infallible, after all. But I am quite confident about this, " he turned around, "Eraserhead, you're his guardian, do you think he should do this exam individually?"

The man in question groaned. "Well...I guess it'd be easier," he mumbled, mouth still pushed under the strands of his scarf, "and he  _is_ pretty smart…I doubt he'd care that much anyway ...besides, he's on a trial so if he  _really_ hates it he can leave...so, I guess, yes?"

The Principal smiled. "Good, good. Now that's sorted, who are the other pairs?"

Eraserhead sighed, bringing out a pile of papers. "Well, if Kaminari's with you that means Mina and Sasagawa are against Hound Dog, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, against me..."

* * *

"AH! SASAGAWA-SAN! OVER HERE!"

Akari sighed, ignoring the other kids' stares as she made her way through the cafeteria.

" _Honestly,"_ she hissed, " _do you need to do that every time!"_

Iida only flashed his glasses at her, waving his other hand about as he yelled, "AS A FRIEND IT IS MY DUTY!"

Uraraka giggled. "You'll get used to Sasagawa-san, take a seat." Midoriya nodded as well, smiling at her.

Akari only sighed, plonking herself down on the seat and stabbing a fork at her food. "You know," she grumbled, "you don't have to pretend to be my friend just 'cause I healed your brother.'

Iida shook his head. " _Nonsense!"_ He cried, "you saving my brother has only opened my eyes to what a  _heroic_ person you are!"

Akari smiled bitterly. " _Sure_."

Uraraka smiled at her warmly. "We're not pretending to be your friends because we feel guilty, we're your friends because we want to be!"

"Yeah!" Midoriya chimed, grinning almost adorably.

Akari sighed, picking at her food. "Why did I end up hanging with the people who vomit sunshine and rainbows at every word?" She muttered.

"That's a question I ask myself every day."

She glanced over at Todoroki, who was patting her shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring way. "You'll get used to it," he glanced at Izuku, who was still grinning, "eventually."

* * *

"Raimuru Tsu," Naomasa recited, staring at the paper in his hands, "gender, male, age, fourteen, Quirk, poisonous sweat, no known parentage, currently under foster care and listed as a flight risk and a Quirk Risk of ten. Has been charged with theft on four ." Naomasa glanced at the boy, "is this all correct?"

The middle school boy shifted nervously in his heat, eyes flicking around the near-empty interrogation room. "Y-Yes," he stuttered.  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa nodded at Gran Torino, who only sighed. Naomasa turned back to the boy. "And you claim that the Pro-Hero, Mache Man, otherwise known as Tanaka Saito, attempted to bribe and force you to commit a crime so that he could save, solve, or rescue the victims. Correct?"

The boy nodded again. "C-Correct."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa nodded again at Gran Torino, who scribbled the statements down on a piece of paper. He glanced back at the boy, who was twiddling nervously with the bandages covering his skin. "Did you take him up on this offer?"

The boy shook his head. "N-No, Stain interfered before I could give a proper answer."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa internally sighed. "Did you know it was Stain at the time?"

He shook his head again. "No, he wasn't wearing his mask and stuff."  _ **Truth**_

"How did you identify him as Stain?"

"I recognised him from the video."  _ **Truth**_

"How were you sure the person in the video was Stain?"

The boy shrugged. "I've seen him around before, the mannerisms were all the same, the Quirk was the same, they look the same. It had to be him."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa frowned, glancing at Gran Torino who just shrugged. "How were you previously familiar with him?"

The boy looked surprised. "Stain's quite well-known in the underworld, he used to be a vigilante before he became a villain, so I've seen him a couple times like that."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa spun a pen in his hand, humming consideringly. "What was Stain's vigilante name?"

Raimuru frowned. "Stendhal, I think."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa nodded at Gran Torino, who noted it down. He cleared his throat, "back to the Paper Hero, how did Stain interfere with your conversation with Tanaka? And where did this conversation take place?"

The boy hummed, a lot less nervous now, it seemed. "In some bar, I think, I don't actually know, Mache Man blindfolded me before taking me there. As for how Stain interfered, he shoved me behind him and goaded the hero on before asking him to fight him. "  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa frowned, "I see, and why did you choose to testify?"

Raimuru shrugged. "I was just kind of sitting in the bar for a while, really nervous because I'd never been surrounded by that many criminals. Then this weird guy with grey hair and glasses came up to me and told me that Mache Man had been killed. I didn't believe him and I told him that but he said if I find out otherwise I should testify against the hero. When I asked him why and he just said that heroes like Mache Man don't deserve to die with a good legacy. After that, I was knocked out, probably by him, and woke up in the city square with Stain and Mache Man's fight being broadcasted at me. After that, I decided to testify against him."  _ **Truth**_

Naomasa sighed. "I see," he stood up, "well, since you're a kid and did a good thing by testifying, no charges, previous and current, will be pressed against you. For your own safety, you will be placed in an orphanage safehouse that caters for kids who are at personal risk of villains attacks. It is one of the most well-funded and well-watched orphanages there are, so you should be fine there. If we require further questioning we will contact you, thank you for your cooperation."

The boy nodded, and a police officer entered the room to show him out.

Naomasa groaned once the boy left. "All this has done is paint the Hero Killer in a better light."

Gran Torino grimaced. "At least we know one thing."

Naomasa turned to the hero. "What?"

Gran Torino sighed. "This whole thing, it was planned out the intention of presenting someone as charismatic and strong as Stain in a good light. Stain, who's been confirmed to be working with the League of Villains. This was done with the intention of attracting more villains to the League."

Naomasa frowned. "Can someone like Shiragaki really plan something like this?"

"No, but All For One can."

* * *

"Ok, staff meeting over, feel free to leave." Principal Nezu glanced at Shouta, "Eraserhead, may I speak to you for a minute."

Shouta frowned, shuffling towards the rodent as the rest of the teachers ambled their way out of the room. "Yes?" He asked.

The Principal cleared his throat, motioning for Shouta to sit next to him. "I heard Kaminari and Sasagawa took Eri to a park outside UA."

Shouta nodded slowly. "They did...why?"

Nezu grimaced, taking a sip of tea. "Her Quirk, we haven't seen it being used before, right?"

Shouta shook his head. "All we know is what Kaminari and Eri herself told us."

The Principal nodded. "Right, Rewind, a Quirk that lets the user return a living being to its previous state, a very powerful Quirk that has the ability to rewind someone to the point of ending their own existence. Eri has told us that she has little control over this ability, but we have yet to see it in action."

Shouta nodded, narrowing his eyes.

Nezu sighed. "Have you noticed anything about her horn? Its size, perhaps?"

Shouta frowned. "Her horn? It's size has stayed the same for a while, though it's smaller than it was after the kidnapping incident."

The Principal hummed contemplatively. "I think the size of her horn has some sort of connection to the power of her Quirk, if my hunch is correct then she must have used her Quirk during the incident."

Shouta sighed, sinking, once again, into his seat. "We can only guess, she doesn't know much about her Quirk." Shouta frowned for a minute, before straightening. "That kid from 1-B, Monoma Neito, he can copy Quirks, so I'll get him to copy Eri's and we can see if he can get an idea on how it works."

Nezu nodded. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

* * *

"OI, PIKACHU, FIGHT ME!"

Izuku could only duck his head sheepishly as Kacchan cornered Kaminari at his desk again. He heard the whole class groaning.

" _Not this again,"_ muttered Jiro, drowning herself in her chair.

"Er, Bakugou," Kirishima tried to place himself between the pair, "maybe not…"

Kacchan only banged his fist on the desk. "Don't you want a fuckin' rematch as well? That idiot crapped all over you."

Kirishima laughed awkwardly, eyes flicking nervously towards Kaminari. "I mean, yeah, but maybe a fight right now isn't the best way…"

"I'll fight you."

The whole class whipped towards Kaminari, Izuku included.

" _What!"_ Ojiro exclaimed, standing up from his desk, "he's been ignoring him for a week and  _now_  he accepts?"

Kacchan grinned menacingly as Kaminari slowly stood up, one hand still shoved in his pocket and the other coming to ease a yawn. Kaminari held a fist towards Kacchan.

"The fuck you doing?"

Kaminari shrugged. "Papers, Scissors, Rock."

Even Kacchan looked confused. "The fuck?"

Kaminari smiled. "I'll fight you in a game of paper, scissors, rock."

It was only the intervention of Aizawa-sensei that stopped Kacchan from flipping Kaminari 's desk.

"Ok, that's a bit too much excitement for you lot," the man drawled.

"THIS IS FUCKING STUPID-" White fabric curled around the boy's mouth.

Aizawa-sensei cleared his throat. " _Anyway_ , today we'll be having a class in one of UA's training grounds. Get changed and follow me."

Izuku clapped his hands together excitedly. ' _I wonder what we're doing!"_

* * *

"Blind dodgeball," Shouta droned, staring at his class impassively, "is pretty much dodgeball except you have a blindfolded partner. The point is to instruct them on what to do since only  _they_ can throw the ball. You are free to use your Quirks and it's team vs team." He paused for a couple seconds, raising an eyebrow when no one moved. "What are you standing around for? Get into pairs."

The whole class scrambled; friends scuttled to friends, outliers drifted to outliers. Except for one, that is.

Shouta could only sigh as his eyes locked onto a certain porn-reading teen, one who had yet to make a move and find a partner. The rest of the class seemed to have unintentionally left the boy a stray, with everyone else partnered up and him alone.

' _Why does this class have to be uneven?'_

"Kaminari _._ " Shouta drawled, as the boy slowly tucked away his book, "you don't have a partner."

He only shrugged. "I know, we have an uneven class." Kaminari frowned, "by the way, how do you play dodgeball?"

Hagakure turned - well, Shouta assumed she did - to Kaminari in shock. "HOW CAN YOU HAVE  _NEVER_ PLAYED DODGEBALL!"

" _Country bumpkin,_ " Bakugou muttered.

Shouta sighed - ' _of course, he's never played dodgeball he lived on the damn streets'_ \- "that's not the main issue here, he needs a partner-"

Midoriya stuck his hand in the air. "Kaminari can team up with Iida, I can sit out for-"

"That will not be necessary," Iida cut in, " _I_ can sit out.

"It's fine, Iida, I can-"

"I assure you, Midoriya, that it is fine."

"I  _insist_ -"

Shouta groaned. "We're playing a couple games so we'll switch people every round. Kaminari, you're with Midoriya for the first."

Midoriya turned to Iida sheepishly before grinning at Kaminari, beginning an animated explanation of the game as the rest of the class scattered.

* * *

"SHITTY-HAIR, WHERE THE HELL ARE DEKU AND PIKACHU!"

Kirishima sweat-dropped, smiling uneasily. "Maybe we shouldn't target them all the time..."

"JUST TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!"

He sighed, gently angling the blindfolded boy towards Midoriya and Kaminari. "They're about 50 feet away from us and," he frowned, "they don't appear to be moving."

"I'll teach that fucker for underestimating me," Bakugou growled, charging towards the pair, ball in hand. "DIE!"

Izuku, who had been scanning the field nervously, paled at the sight of the incoming Bakugou. " _Kaminari,_ " he hissed, shaking the boy's shoulders nervously, "Kacchan's targeting us, we need to move  _now_."

Kaminari only hummed, rubbing the texture of his blindfold curiously. "I suppose," he drawled, lazily stretching one of his hands with a yawn. "Maybe later, though."

Izuku clenched a fist, frustration bleeding through his face as an explosion-powered ball soared towards the masked boy. A green glow began to immerse him, and he solidified his stance.

' _5...4...3...2…'_

The ball was about 3 feet away from Kaminari and the boy was making no move to stop it.

' _...1.'_

Izuku leapt, his hand gripped into a fist and One For All coursing through his veins as he swung his fist towards the ball.

' _SMASH-'_

A hand snatched the loose fabric of his costume, heaving him back to the ground and forcing him to collapse on top of Kaminari. In that lapse of concentration, Izuku lost control over his Quirk and the green glow was lost. He gazed up to where he was supposed to meet the ball, only to see another meet its blow. Izuku glanced back, Todoroki and Asui were frowning at them, a fire blazing in the heterochromatic boy's hand.

"Damn it," he heard Asui mutter, "we missed."

Izuku whipped towards Kaminari, gaping as he got up. "H-How did you-"

The boy only smiled. "I have good ears."

Izuku blanched. "Y-You  _heard_  the other ball!"

Kaminari nodded. "I did," he shifted sideways as another ball skimmed past him, "and you should learn too, so you don't get tunnel vision." Kaminari grabbed Izuku's wrist, "let's move, I've been wanting to throw something at bubble boy for a while."

Izuku sputtered after him. "B-Bubble boy? You mean Mineta?"

"Who else?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the hiatusy thing, I've been having some eye problems and had to lay of the computers for a bit. Here's the new chapter, I know things are going a bit slow but I have a checklist of things to do before we move on to the exams. Expect a bit of development on my OCs, Phoenix and Akari, well, mainy Phoenix. I know people don't really like OCs, but I have to develop these two if I want to progress the plot the way I planened so you'll have to bear with.
> 
> Cheers

**Author's Note:**

> Any mistakes can u please comment.
> 
> Thx


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